The Raconteur
by silverwrym
Summary: Everyone knows that Reid has a way with words, and he can't help but to share his knowledge with anyone that will listen. It's just his luck that the wrong person decides to finally pay him some attention.
1. The Bayou

**Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Criminal Minds  
**

**Please forgive any mistakes. Believe me, they are not intentional :)**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Raconteur: One who tells stories and anecdotes with skill and wit.**

* * *

"I'm just saying. I've never seen you order a beverage other than coffee since I met you…," the voice trailed off as the elevator doors silently swished opened onto the BAU floor, and three agents disembarked from their journey out to lunch.

"Well Morgan, what can I say there are just some foods that require certain beverages to compliment the taste," Reid commented as the three companions walked back into the office.

"I think Morgan's right Reid. You've never ordered milk before, not even at breakfast," JJ added into the conversation.

"I guess I've never ordered soup in front of you guys before. You always have to drink milk with soup, or else it just doesn't taste right. It's kinda like how only saltine crackers are eaten with broth soups and oyster crackers are for cream based soups," Reid elaborated for his friends.

"What? A cracker is a cracker. It doesn't matter what type of soup it is, they all do the same job," Morgan said with even more disbelief in his voice.

"Not true, saltines soak up the broth and add that extra salt content to the soup, while oyster crackers maintain their crunchiness longer and add texture to the soup," Reid defended his strange eating habits.

"Okay Spence. What other foods demand a certain beverage to be enjoyed with them?" JJ asked as they reached Reid's desk and he settled in for an afternoon of paper work.

"Um…well. I can't eat a dill pickle without a glass of fruit punch to accompany it," Reid said nervously. No one ever reacted well when he announced this strange food combination.

"Eww! That's just weird, even for you," Morgan said as he started making his way to his office. "Leave it to pretty boy to enjoy some of the strangest things I've ever heard of. Next he'll be talking about his love of drinking orange juice after brushing his teeth."

"Yeah, I've gotta say I never would have imagined that you had such unique tastes," JJ said as she turned away from Reid's desk right into Hotch who just appeared out of nowhere.

"We've got a case. We're meeting in five," he said not bothering to join in the conversation centralized on Dr. Reid's abnormal palate. Both agents nodded their head to show their understanding and went about gathering their materials.

* * *

"Alright team, I am sending you off to a place swathed in myth and mystery. A place where you will cringe if you are caught alone in the dark and every strange sound could be the result of a swamp monster. I'm telling you now to prepare yourselves for an adventure in the bayou," Garcia announced to the team of profilers.

Afternoon was just emerging in Quantico, and all the agents looked well fed after eating their respective meals. Standing in front of the group, Garcia made note that each member had a prerequisite coffee perched in front of them. It was obviously there to help them to stave off any sleepy feelings that might develop as a result of eating too much food. Garcia was as perky as ever, leading some to wonder how she was able to work such long hours and still manage to have such a cheery disposition every moment of the day. Her outfit of the day consisted of an orange cardigan over a hot pink dress. In addition, her hair was brilliantly coordinated with pink and orange streaks along with an extremely large hot pink flowered hair tie.

Agent Hotchner looking as stoic as ever responded, "The case…"

"Oh, sir…I'm getting there now. Okay crime fighters, I hope you have some alligator repellent because you are going to be all up in the swamp's business. The little town of Krotz Springs has called us in because for the third time in four months an alligator has turned up with remains of human bodies in their stomachs. Now, before you even ask whether or not these people were just careless bayou workers, they weren't. All three bodies have been identified via DNA tests, and they are all young females that had been reported missing over the past five months," Garcia said as she summarized all of the details to the case.

"Did they go missing in successive order to when they were found?" Reid asked immediately flipping through the pictures of his hard copy of the information.

"Why yes, boy genius. Our first victim, Destiny Bradley went missing five months ago from her cabin on the bayou. She was staying at one of the kitschy touristy spots that cater to vacationers. Her husband reported her missing after she went out on her morning jog and never came back. It was an open missing person case until parts of her body were discovered inside of an alligator getting butchered at a local restaurant about a month and a half later," she explained.

"Local restaurant?" Blake asked for clarification.

"Ah, yeah. One of the most popular fares down there is fresh alligator. They have tons of ways to prepare it. The local restaurant gets a fresh delivery every morning from the trappers in the area."

"Huh, guess I'll have to give it a try while were down there," Blake said shifting her focus back to the case.

"The next victim Jasmine Curley went missing a few days after Destiny was discovered. She was in town visiting her friend, Jalan Harrington, and he reported her missing when she didn't come back to his house after she went out on an evening walk. Again, she was found by the same restaurant owner in the same fashion a month later," Garcia paused to see if any of the profilers had a question about Jasmine.

Seeing that there weren't any queries forthcoming, Garcia plunged on. "Our final victim, Shana Carver went missing a week after the remains of Jasmine were found. In similar fashion to Destiny, Shana disappeared after an early morning excursion. She was just found yesterday by…yep, you guessed it…the owner of Maybell's Diner."

The information screen showed the pictures of the three young victims whose lives were cut short way too early. Reid allowed his eyes to flit over the appearance of each girl and noticed that there was no significant resemblance between any of them. He noticed that the ages of the girls fit over a broad spectrum too: Jasmine was 18, Destiny was 25, and Shana was in her 30s.

"It looks like the unsub isn't concerned with finding a victims that are of a similar age or appearance. I wonder what else could be driving him," Morgan stated stealing Reid's thunder.

"Well, it could be any number of things," Reid began. "We have two taken in the early morning, and one at dusk. It could be that they were victims of opportunity because they were all taken at times when they were alone and there wouldn't be many people in the area to witness the abduction." Reid said not to be outdone by Morgan's observation.

"I don't like how the same diner is finding the bodies each time," Rossi mused aloud to the team. "I think it's definitely something we need to follow-up on with the owners. We should see who their supplier is and question them on where they hunt and trap the gators."

"Why did the police wait so long to call us in? Personally, I would have been on the phone the minute I found a second mutilated corpse in an alligator," JJ questioned.

Fielding this question, Garcia answered, "The local law enforcement wanted to give a go at the cases themselves. They felt that since the town is so tiny that they wouldn't have much difficulty getting to the bottom of the case. Unfortunately they haven't made much headway and decided to ask for our help."

"Alright team, we'll talk more on the jet. Be ready to go in thirty," Hotch said breaking up the meeting. They needed to get in the air as soon as possible. If the unsub followed the pattern another abduction could take place any time now.

* * *

On the jet they reviewed the information that was on hand and developed a game plan for when they landed. The flight to Baton Rouge, which was the closest city with an airport to Krotz Springs, was pretty short so they wanted to make sure they hit the ground running when they touched down. JJ and Reid were assigned the task of going to the local police station and setting up shop. Blake and Morgan were sent to Maybell's diner to talk to the owners and gather as much information about the alligators as possible. Finally, Hotch and Rossi were tasked with going to the last known whereabouts of the victims and talking to any potential witnesses. Their task was going to be the most difficult due to the fact that Destiny's family had gone back home to Little Rock and Jasmine's lived in New Orleans. They were hopeful that some of the locals could recall details pertaining to the young women and help add information to their light case files. At this time no one was able to talk to the ME because they were located in Baton Rouge and wouldn't be available for questioning until tomorrow.

The local sheriff greeted JJ and Reid the moment they entered the tiny station. It reminded Reid of those old one room school houses, in that it was a big open room with a door at the back leading to the two holding cells. The only other doors in the station led to the sheriff's office and the single stall unisex bathroom.

"We have a space cleared up for ya'll over there by the restroom," Sheriff Whitehead gestured toward the whiteboard and desk that was set up for the team. "Sorry, we just don't have a lot of room in here. Nothing much really happens here to justify expanding the department. The biggest issues we deal with are bored drunk kids causing a ruckus on the weekend."

"It's okay, we've worked with less," JJ said trying to make the sheriff feel better about the compact space.

"Is this all of you?" the sheriff asked realizing that there weren't any more agents walking in the door.

"Oh, no. The rest of our team are already out there investigating the potential abduction sites and talking to the diner's owner. By the way, our unit chief Aaron Hotchner, was hoping you could meet him and SSA Agent Rossi out at the cabins where Destiny Bradley was last seen. They would like a local perspective on the area," JJ told Sheriff Whitehead.

"Well, I'll just head out now. If you two need anything just ask Officer Sabuda and he'll be happy to help," the sheriff said pointing at the one lone officer working at his desk across the room.

"Thanks," was all JJ said as she turned away from the retreating figure. "Okay Reid, what do you want to get started on first?"

About five hours later the team had reconvened back at the station. They were all sitting around the small table that had been provided, discussing their discoveries. It turned out that the owner of the diner was able to supply Blake and Morgan with the names of all of her fresh game providers.

"Well it just so happens that the owner, Maybell Lee, buys her food from multiple sources. She said that on the days she found the body parts she bought the gators from a man named John Brookins. He's a local trapper that lives out in the bayou. We couldn't contact him because he lives totally off the grid. So we will have to wait for him to bring in his haul tomorrow morning and catch him for questioning then," Blake reported out.

"Okay, I want you two in charge of that," Hotch ordered Blake and Morgan. "Rossi and I explored the area with Sheriff Whitehead today. We looked around the cabins that Destiny Bradley disappeared from and the path we think she may have taken for her jog. We also looked over the areas where the other two victims were possibly taken. All in all, I'm beginning to think what Reid said earlier was right. These girls were victims of opportunity. All the areas they were kidnapped from were low traffic spots and would have been deserted at the time of the abduction. JJ and Reid, did you find out anything else significant while looking at the victimology?"

"Well, we looked at all their backgrounds with the help of Garcia. Based on what we found it actually looks like the kidnappings might not have been based on bad luck. The thing is all three women have their choice of work in common. Destiny and Shana were lower elementary school teachers, and Jasmine was going to school to become one. What we need to figure out now is why the unsub is targeting educators," Reid explained to the team.

Everyone sat and digested the information for a few minutes. The silence was interrupted by the loudest stomach grumble on earth. Each member of the team was shaken out of their stupor and looked around to figure out which one of them was the source. It wasn't too hard to figure out that Morgan's appetite was making itself known by the way he refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"It is a bit past dinner time, but I don't want to leave exploring this new lead until tomorrow. JJ and Reid, why don't you go out and get us some dinner and the rest of us will build upon what you found?" Hotch asked the two teammates.

"Sure," said JJ as she got up to go ask the sheriff where to go to get dinner for the team.

* * *

It turned out that the grocery store across the street also had a food counter that stayed open late. They took the teams' order from the carryout menus the sheriff provided and made their way over to the store to retrieve their meal.

Walking into the grocery store felt like walking back in time to the early 1950s. Like the police station it was a tiny shop but met the needs of the local population. The food counter looked like an old-timey soda fountain, and the server was even dressed in a dated uniform. There weren't too many customers occupying the store and only one other person sitting in a corner seat at the counter. JJ and Reid sat down on two of the empty stools and waited for the waitress to come and take their order.

"Hi ya'll! You must be the FBI," the perky young waitress said greeting her brand new customers.

"Uh, yeah. We were told by the sheriff that this place had the best food in town and we sure are dying for some dinner," JJ said trying to be friendly to the girl.

"I'm not sure about that, Maybell's food is definitely better, but we'll do in a pinch. What can I get for you guys?" she asked.

JJ went ahead and placed the whole order while Reid sat and observed his surroundings. His musings were interrupted by JJ's ruminations about the case.

"I can't imagine what this unsub must be doing with these girls for such a long period of time. I sure hope that when we talk to the ME tomorrow that there isn't any evidence of abuse. They must be terrified not knowing when it's going to end or if they're ever going to be found," JJ remarked forgetting to consider her teammate's experience in a similar situation.

"Well, when I was in their shoes I just kept on hoping that you guys would come. You can't give up hope in that situation, because once you do the unsub wins," Reid responded. He was surprised how easy it was to talk about his own experiences, but it really didn't bother him anymore. He had worked through those old emotions and knew how to handle them better now. It had taken a few years to get to this point, and he was proud of his ability to talk about it without getting a flashback or having a panic attack.

"You know what you say about never knowing when it's going to be over reminds me of a heroine in Middle Eastern mythology that managed to put off her own death by simply using her words," Reid told JJ.

"Yeah, what woman are you talking about?" JJ asked, figuring there wasn't anything better than listening to Reid while waiting for the food to get done.

Excited to have a chance to tell a story and have an attentive audience, Reid jumped right into the tale, "Well, once upon a time there was a Persian king named Shahryar. He was a suspicious king and suspicion was justified when he discovered that his wife had been cheating on him. As a consequence he had her executed, and decided to never trust another woman again. Not wanting to be alone for the rest of his life he assigned a councilor the job of finding him a new wife. He demanded that the new wife must be a virgin because he wasn't willing to settle down with someone else's leftovers, so to speak. Anyways, once the councilor found him a new wife he bedded her and killed her the next morning so she wouldn't even have a chance of being unfaithful. After an indeterminate amount of wives the councilor was unable to find anymore virgins left in the country for the king to marry. That's when his daughter, a virgin, offered up herself. Her name was Scheherazade and she was extremely beautiful. Now Scheherazade was not walking into this marriage without a plan, she had devised a way to keep the king from executing her the next morning. What she did was…" Reid trailed off when the waitress came over to the counter with the food all packaged up.

He had been so enmeshed in telling the story that he hadn't even noticed how much time was passed and that everyone in the vicinity had been listening to the tale unfold. Momentarily forgetting the story, Reid paid the bill using Hotch's company credit card and began to gather the bags.

"You're just going to leave me hanging without hearing the end of the story?" the waitress asked when she noticed that Reid and JJ were preparing to leave.

"Oh, uh sorry. We really have to get back to the police station," Reid said apologetically to the girl.

"Ahh, all right. But promise me you'll come back in here tomorrow to let me know how it ends!" she said merrily as she waved goodbye.

"We'll see," was all Reid said, not wanted to make a promise he couldn't keep.

"Yah, Spence. I want to hear how it ends too," JJ said seeing the excitement light his face at someone actually being interested in what he was saying.

"Well, just remind me when we have some down time and I'll finish the story," Reid said with a big smile plastered all over his face as they walked back into the station.

"All right! Foods here!" Morgan shouted upon their entry.

The team divvied up the food to its respective owners and sat around the table for another few hours brainstorming the case. It was close to eleven when Hotch called it a night, especially since Blake and Morgan had an early morning outing that they needed to attend. Fortunately, the local motel had enough vacancies that each member got their own room and they were more than happy to take advantage of the privacy. The last words of the night were Hotch's when he told everyone to meet at the station bright and early at seven.

* * *

Reid has never been one to sleep in very late and found his internal alarm waking him up at the early morning hour of six. After tossing and turning about on the bed for ten minutes he decided to give up and get ready for the day. He stumbled out of bed and took a hot shower to help get the sleep out of his system. Shortly thereafter he was dressed and ready to go with at least a half hour to spare before he was expected at the station.

With all the time he had left Reid decided to do his coworkers a favor and bring in some fresh brewed coffee from Maybell's diner. The walk to the diner and back would be refreshing this early in the morning and his teammates would praise his kindness for the thoughtful gift. Closing and locking his motel room door, Reid began to make his way down the dirt road.

Maybell's diner was just a mile away from the motel, snuggled between a fishing tackle store and a local tractor supply outlet. All of them butted up against the water which allowed for easy deliveries of fresh fish and other aquatic cuisine to the diner. Reid wondered if he was going to run into Blake and Morgan interviewing the local trapper, but was disappointed by their absence when he got closer. It turned out that Reid was the only customer in the diner this early. He went in and ordered enough coffee to satisfy all of his teammates. It was after Maybell brought out all six coffees that Reid realized that he was going to have to carry two beverage holders full of coffee over a mile back to the station. Really wishing that Morgan and Blake were still here, Reid took one holder in each and started his trek back.

Reid was walking past the alley separating the diner from the fishing store when he felt something loop around his neck. Taken by surprise he dropped all of the coffee and threw his hands up to remove the object. Whatever it was that was entwined around his neck got tighter when the person controlling it jerked it backwards. Yelling was not an option because Reid could feel the pressure increase cutting off the much needed oxygen.

With the backwards jerk on the line Reid was flung into the ally, which was still enshrouded in shadows at this time of the morning. No matter how much Reid tried to pry the thick wire around his neck off, it kept on tightening. He started to cough and gasp struggling to allow even a little bit of air into his body. Reid started seeing a darkening haze developing all around him when he began to thrash his body around in protest. Before the whole world went dark he got a glimpse of his attacker; it was the man that had been sitting at the diner counter last night listening to his story.

* * *

**Would you like to read more?**


	2. Boat Ride

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show it wouldn't go on break over the summer.**

**Thank you to everyone who commented, favorited, and followed my new story. Your comments were absolutely wonderful and very encouraging.  
**

**Please forgive any mistakes! I know I have a major issue with commas...I can't stop using them.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Earlier that morning**

"I hope that Mr. Bookins is here. I would hate to think that we had to wake up this early for nothing," Morgan said as he and Blake pulled into Maybell's Diner.

"Well, there's a light on in the diner. That's a good sign. If John's not here yet we can at least catch some breakfast while we wait for him to arrive," Blake said.

"Hmm, homemade breakfast…sounds good to me. I could go for some biscuits and gravy right about now," Morgan said as another abnormally loud grumble issued from his stomach.

They walked around the back of the diner and headed toward the dock. There was an airboat moored down there and a large man was unloading what looked to be an alligator. Maybell was standing on the dock with a large cart waiting to haul the gator up to the diner.

The two agents waited for the difficult unloading to take place and immediately sidled up to the boat before the owner could depart.

"John Brookins?" Blake called out pulling out her badge.

"Yeah, who's asking?" came a gruff response.

"Mr. Brookins, I'm Agent Morgan and this is Agent Blake with the FBI. We have some questions we would like to ask you about your occupation," Morgan said as he too held up his badge to be inspected by the man.

"I've still got a ton to do today. You need to make it quick," the man responded as he worked on cleaning up his boat of the alligator blood.

"I assure you sir, we will be as quick as we can," Blake tried to placate him.

All they received as a grunt from the working man. Taking that as a signal to get on with the questions Morgan dived right in, "Sir, are you aware that there have been two different bodies discovered in alligators delivered to Maybell's?"

"Yeah, she told me about that," John said. "Wait…are you trying to accuse me of something? All I do is catch the gators and deliver them."

"No sir. We're not accusing you of anything. We would like to know how you go about catching the alligators and where you hunt for them," Morgan said quickly trying to diffuse the situation.

"Eh…well I catch them using a heavy duty hook that I hang from a tree with bait at dusk. The gators go up to the bait, swallow the hook and become stuck. They usually die before I get back to them in the morning, but I guess that's the point. Isn't it?" he explained with a chuckle.

"What do you use as bait?" Blake asked.

"Well, anything that's got some meat on it will work. Lately, I've been using nutria. They're river rats that have just invaded this area over the last few decades. So, I thought I would do my part in reducing the population."

"Do alligators normally attack or eat people?" Blake asked moving the conversation along.

"Well, not usually. They don't really go after something as big as a human. They stick to stuff like river rats, deer, and turtles. Humans really aren't considered prey. If an alligator attacks a human it's usually out of self-defense not hunger," John explained like it was common sense.

"Have you ever heard of an alligator eating a human before?" she continued.

"Oh, no. But alligators have been known to eat dead animals if they're really hungry. If those bodies were already dead in the water those gators might have made a meal out of them," John said as he finished cleaning up his deck.

Morgan was busy writing down some quick notes and looked up when he realized John was ready to leave. "I've got one more question before you go. Do you hunt in the same areas daily or do you vary your range?"

"Well, I know the best places to put the hooks, but there are hundreds of locations. The bayou is a big place and there are tons of alligators waiting to be caught," John said.

"Could you make a rough list of all the locations you trap in and bring it by the police station tomorrow or later on today?" Blake asked knowing that Reid could use it in formulating a better geographical profile.

John started laughing, "Not really. There aren't names for the places I hunt. You would need to give me a map and I could mark the spots I typically frequent. But you're going to have a hard time finding one that is really accurate. Like I said, the bayou is a big place and it has got a lot of twists and turns."

"If we bring you a map tomorrow morning do you think you could complete it by the next day?" Blake asked, not wanting to lose this important information.

"Sure, sure…just drop it off with Maybell and I'll get if from her in the morning. Now if that's all, I need to collect my fee from Maybell and get going," John said dismissively.

"Yes Mr. Brookins, that's all for now. We'll leave the map with Maybell later today for you. Thanks for all your help," Morgan said as he and Blake turned to leave.

John watched the two agents retreat from the dock and hopped out of the clean airboat and went up to the diner. He walked in the back door and saw Maybell prepping biscuits for the morning rush. The gator he had just delivered was sitting on a counter in the back waiting for Maybell's son to come in and butcher it. He walked over to the prep table and snagged some raw dough to eat.

"Hey! I'm going to have to start charging you for that," Maybell yelled and swatted his hand away from the dough.

"You always say that," John replied. "Those agents are going to leave a map here for me and I'll pick it up in the morning with my delivery."

"Alright…anything to stop finding dead bodies in those gators you've been bringing me," Maybell said as she sauntered off to get John's payment. The two stood around talking about the town gossip for another half hour when the front door opened and a tall thin young man entered. Maybell didn't need a bell on the door to signal when a customer entered because her kitchen food window had a view of the dining room.

John stood there in the back for a few minutes and scrutinized the newcomer. It was the kid he heard last night at the food counter. He remembered the waitress remarking that he was FBI, but John found that hard to believe. The kid was so willowy it looked like a cocker spaniel could knock him over by just barking at him. He heard the agent order a large amount of coffee and decided to not waste such an amazing opportunity.

John knew that there wouldn't be anyone around to witness what he was about to do. He had already successfully taken three other people before this kid, and he was confident he could do it again. He ran down to the dock and fetched a snare out of his tool box. Then he snuck into the alley and waited for his prey to heedlessly walk past him. Smiling, he crouched down and got a little excited at the prospect of being able to hear the end of the kid's story.

* * *

There was an infernal buzzing that was overwhelming his ears. It filled his head and made him think that he must have fallen asleep in the middle of a motorcycle enclave. He hadn't opened his eyes yet because sleep was such a tempting mistress but that damn buzzing made it impossible to fall back into a peaceful slumber. Deciding that there must be someone with a weed whacker trying to cut his hair Reid decided to try to get rid of the sound source.

It was when he tried to move his arms to clear the area around his ears that he started getting worried, they wouldn't move. He sent the signal to his hands again and he was still met with their defiance. Realizing that the only reason his body wouldn't respond was if it was unable too, Reid's eye flew open and tried to take in his surroundings.

His big brown eyes were assaulted with a bright white gleam. He quickly slammed them shut and slowly opened them again, hoping that they would adjust to the light better. It was a painful process, but once his eyes were accustomed to the shine he was able to comprehend in his location.

Reid realized that he was lying on his right side on the deck of a ship. In front of him was the bow of the boat and he couldn't see over the top of it. He maneuvered his head as best he could and noticed that the walls of the boat were relatively short. Unfortunately, from his vantage point they were still too high to get any sort of view of the land the boat was travelling through.

By now he had already figured out that his hands were tied behind his back using some sort of wire. He fought against it for a few minutes hoping that the knots were weak, but all he succeeded in doing was irritating his wrists. Heaving a sigh he decided to flip onto his back to see what was above him.

What he expected to see was the bright blue sky taking up his view, however they only sky visible was a narrow strip where the trees had yet to reach. He knew these trees were indicative of the Louisiana Bayou; they were bald cypresses. These trees have flourished in the swampy environment because their fluted trunks help make them flood tolerant. Reid knew without a doubt that he was somewhere cruising through the Atchafalaya Swamp, the largest swamp in the United States.

A feeling of fear suddenly flooded through the profiler. What luck did he have of being saved if his captor was familiar and comfortable navigating these mazelike waters?

Speaking of his captor, Reid slowly rolled his body to face the stern of the boat. The man from the diner sat on a seat that was a few feet above the deck of the boat. He was a large man, muscular and fit. He had a head of dark black hair and eyes that were bright blue. The man was truly an alpha male to his core, which exuded out of his every pore.

Glancing behind the man, Reid finally figured out the source of that incessant sound. It was a large fan that propelled the boat throughout the bayou. Reid knew now that he was on an airboat, and more than likely this one was used for hunting. The only seats on the boat were located near the one his kidnapper sat in, and the rest of the deck was bare of anything except for tools.

Reid focused his gaze back to the man steering the boat and made eye contact with him briefly. There was no point in trying to talk to him because the roar of the fan would wipe out any words he spoke. The man didn't seem the least bit interested in communicating with Reid anyways and turned his steely gaze back to the water. Reid decided that he had enough of lying on the floor and struggled to sit up to see where they were going.

The moment he finally had himself positioned in an upright position he felt a yank on his neck. He was jerked onto his side, and ended up sprawled across the deck. Up until now he hadn't even realized that whatever had cut off his air earlier was still wrapped around his neck, just not as tight.

He looked up at man again and saw that he was holding a loop of steel cable that led all the way to Reid's noose. The man had used a snare trap on him. All a trapper has to do is take the end of the snare with a large loop and catch it over the intended animal's neck. Once the hunter makes sure the loop is in place they simply pull on it to make it squeeze tightly around the prey's neck. There is a locking mechanism on the large loop that ensures that the snare maintains the desired tightness and that in turn leaves the prey helpless.

A bit of humiliation coursed through Reid as he took in the fact that he was taken using a method usually reserved for wild animals. He wished his arms were free so he could clutch the wire digging into his neck and try to loosen it up a little. Now that he knew that it was there he couldn't get his mind off of it. It seemed that every second that passed the noose was getting tighter and tighter.

Trying to get his mind off the metal cable encompassing his neck he decided to analyze the man's reaction to when he tried to sit up. Obviously the man intended for him to stay down. Why? Maybe the man was trying to hide him from someone else's sight. If that was the case, who was he trying to keep from seeing Reid? Were there other fishermen out here? Was he just trying to keep Reid from seeing where they were going?

Who was this guy anyways? If he is the unsub, than he sure did change his victimology. The man had shown a propensity toward women, never once taking a man. What would his motivation be in taking Reid? Was he just upping his thrill by taking an FBI agent? Still, why not take JJ since she would have fit his pattern better? No, what was he thinking? He was happy that JJ was spared this whole experience. He would rather it be him a hundred times over than one of the girls. Knowing that he just didn't have enough information to go off of to form a profile, Reid longed for the boat to come to a stop so he could attempt to have a conversation with his captor.

His wishful thinking actually came true when he heard the airboat begin to power down. Keeping his eye on the man above him, Reid watched as he pushed and pulled levers and turned the rudder as if there were a large amount of obstacles in his way. The boat slowed to a crawl and Reid was taken by surprised when he was jolted toward the front of the boat abruptly. The large man cut the fan, hopped out of the boat, and tied the ship to what Reid assumed was a dock.

"Hello?" Reid called out, trying to take advantage of the sudden hush.

He received nothing but silence in return. Not one to wait patiently, Reid tried to sit up again. Once he was successful and caught a glimpse of the surrounding environment, the seriousness of his situation came crashing down on him.

The man had docked the boat on a small island set in a dead end channel of the swamp. The dock was off to the side between the house and the backyard, giving Reid a general view of this man's home. Overall, the island itself was not very large, but it was able to support a boat dock, cabin, tool shed, and a garden.

The exterior of the cabin was wooden and worn down. The roof was in major need of new shingles. Reid wouldn't have been surprised if there were multiple leaks throughout the house. The porch looked like it would collapse in on the next person that stepped on it, and the screen door was hanging on by only the top hinge. From the looks of things, it was clear that the man cared more about his yard than his house.

For the yard surrounding the house was well maintained and there was even flower bed out front. The vegetable garden was quite large, and took up most of the backyard. The location of the cabin was pivotal in the owner's ability to grow vegetables at all. The island that the cabin was located on received mostly direct sunlight throughout the day due to the cypress tree branches not stretching far enough out to block it out.

At this point, worry was running rampant through Reid. This man had totally taken him somewhere off the grid, and only an expert at these waterways would be able to find him. In fact, Reid was almost positive now that the man had him ride on the floor of the boat to make sure he couldn't track the path they took through the trees. Not like that would have helped him anyways, since he woke up at an unknown point in their journey. His captor had made sure that Reid would be unable to find his way out and his team would never find their way in.

Reid yelled out again at the man who was fixing the boat in place, "Hey. Why am I here? You do know that I'm a FBI agent, right? You're going to be in a lot of trouble when they find us. Just take me back now and I'm sure the sentence won't be as severe."

Reid watch for any reaction from the man and was met with a glare. The man said nothing as he stepped back in the boat and reached for the end of the snare. He jerked on the line and gestured for Reid to get up.

Reid struggled to get on his feet, especially with the boat moving beneath him. The man got off the boat and started pulling on the snare like a leash. Reid, refusing to be subjected to such dehumanizing treatment planted his feet as best he could and stood his ground.

"I'm not a dog. I will not be led around on a leash. Now talk to me and tell me what I'm doing here!" Reid demanded with a hint of fury edging in his voice.

The powerful man just turned around and faced Reid. Wordlessly he yanked roughly on the snare causing the loop around Reid's neck to contract. Reid, grasping a little too late the repercussions of his defiance, started gasping for air like he did in the alleyway. Except this time instead of being able to reach his hands up to help relieve the pressure he could only stand there and accept his fate.

Stars were starting the form around the corners of his eyes, and he felt a light jerk on the line. The man was trying again to get Reid to get out of the boat and walk with him compliantly. Not sure whether it was the lightheadedness or the fact that he was tired of always being the victim, Reid decided then and there not to give into his captor. The young agent refused to move from his spot again and did his best to stare defiantly at the man at the end of the leash as he struggled for breath.

The man growled with impatience and stomped back to where Reid was standing. He got back into the boat and stood nose to nose with his captive. He reached his hands up and manually tightened the noose. He watched impassively as the young man sputtered and gasped. When the boy finally passed out from oxygen deprivation the man picked him up and carried him into the house.

Once inside the cabin, he carried the boy over to an old wire box trap that he used to use when trying to catch the alligators alive. Before he placed the young man in his new bed he removed the snare from around his neck and undid the fishing wire that was restraining they boy's hands. There were a nasty purple and blue bruises forming all around the kid's neck and wrists and they wasn't going to get any better. The man picked up a metal collar from the floor and secured it around Reid's neck.

The collar had two lengths of chain coming off of a metal loop positioned in the front. Each length of chain ended in a metal manacle that secured around the captive's right and left hand. He knew that the boy was harmless at the moment, but when he was allowed out of the cage the man wanted his freedom to be limited. The collar would also enable him to secure the kid wherever he wanted via the loop in the back with the padlock. It gave him complete control of the boy's movements, and was absolutely necessary for the breaking in period. This young man had some spunk in him, shown in how obstinate he was being on the dock. The man knew that he was going to have some work ahead of him crushing that spirit out of the boy.

With a final look down at his new guest, the man made his way back out to the boat to continue his day catching more game out on the bayou. He was eagerly looking forward to tonight when he would finally introduce his "guest" to his new life.


	3. Best Laid Plans

**Disclaimer: I wish I had a trillion billion dollars than I could own this show.**

**Hi all! Thanks for review, following and favoriting my story. I really appreciate it!**

**Oh, just one thing about the story. I know that I have the team scenes set hours behind the Reid ones. I will work on catching the team up to Reid's timeline in the next chapter.**

**Please forgive any stupid mistakes!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Morgan and Blake were already settled in when the team arrived right on time at seven. The agents looked up and waited patiently for their teammates to settle in so they could fill them in on their new information and thoughts.

Once all five agents had settled, it became clear to all that there was one seat left unoccupied. Hotch looked around the tiny station and addressed the early duo, "Where's Reid?"

"What do you mean? You only told Blake and me to go interview Mr. Brookins," Morgan responded with some confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, but when we left to come here Reid wasn't in his room. We figured that he came in early to work with you two," Hotch explained.

"No, we haven't seen him at all. It's just been the two of us and that officer over there," Blake said.

"Well maybe he went out to hunt down some coffee," Rossi said figuring Reid's coffee addiction had something to do with his tardiness.

"Alright, let's give him some time before we start to worry," Hotch declared to the overprotective profilers. "Morgan, what did you two find out from your interview?"

Morgan and Blake went on to describe Mr. Brookins and the information he gave them an hour earlier. They had the local officer working on getting them a comprehensive map of the local portion of the bayou to drop off at Maybell's later. Overall, it took about a half an hour to fill the group in and bounce some ideas off of one another. As the conversation wound down it became abundantly clear that something was holding up Reid.

"Um, Hotch do you want me to go look for Reid now? He's never this late, even if it is for coffee," JJ asked.

"Okay, go out and find him. Take Blake with you and get back here as soon as possible. Rossi and I are going out on a tour of the swamp with Sheriff Whitehead so we probably won't be here when you get back. Morgan, get that map over to the diner than contact the ME so we have some details about the cause of deaths for each girl," Hotch instructed the team before they broke apart to go about their assigned tasks.

* * *

The girls went over to the motel and got a key to Reid's room from the front desk. Upon inspection of his lodgings they found nothing out of place. The bed had been slept in, the toiletries were spread out on the bathroom counter, and the in room coffee maker had been used. It was obvious that Reid had taken a shower this morning due to the moisture still in the bathroom, and his pajamas were strewn out on top of his bag. There was no sign of a struggle or a fight. The women determined that whatever happened to their colleague it did not occur at the motel.

The agents returned the key to the receptionist at the desk and asked her whether she had seen the missing agent. Fortunately, she happened to see Reid walking by the window this morning heading down the dirt road to destination unknown. The only other information that she was able to provide was that Reid had walked by her office around six thirty.

Blake and JJ hopped into the SUV and started driving slowly down the dirt road that Reid was walking down this morning. Blake quickly recognized the route and told JJ, "This is the way to Maybell's Diner. Morgan and I were here this morning. We didn't see Reid walking down the road on our way back to the station."

"Well, you and Morgan got to the diner early. It's quite possible that you missed him by minutes. Let's stop in and ask if anyone saw him. How long do you think it would take him to walk here from the motel?" JJ asked.

"Uh…maybe ten minutes. Thinking about it more, Morgan and I were done questioning Mr. Brookins at about six fifteen. So it really based on the receptionists time table it's really plausible that we may have missed him," Blake mused out loud.

The parking lot for the diner was quite full and they had no choice but to create their own spot in front of the doors. The ladies got out and muscled their way up to the counter and flashed their badges at a young waitress. "We need to talk to Maybell if she's still here," Blake instructed the girl and watched as she flitted off to find the proprietor.

A few moments later the little old lady that ran the busiest diner in town bustled out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish towel. "This better be good. You're interrupting me during our breakfast rush," she crowed at the agents.

"Sorry ma'am, we promise we'll be quick," JJ said in response to the crotchety woman. "We were wondering if you happened to see another one of our agents this morning. He's a tall, thin, young man. His auburn hair falls past his ears and has a slight curl to it. Oh, and he has huge hazel eyes that remind you of a puppy dog."

"Yeah, sure. I've seen him. He was here this morning buying a ton of coffee. He sure didn't think ahead, because I could tell he was flummoxed on how he was going to carry it all. He came in a while after ya'll talked to John," Maybell said to Blake. "Now if that's all I gotta a kitchen to get back to."

"Thank you ma'am," called JJ to the retreating back of the busy restaurateur.

Together the agents walked out the door and paused to talk.

"So, Reid was here this morning buying us coffee. He must have…," Blake trailed off after something behind JJ caught her eyes.

JJ turned and looked to see what had her friend so captivated and saw a bunch of trash on the ground. No, it wasn't a bunch of trash. It was a pile of coffee cups and their holders. The two rushed over to the evidence and frantically looked around like they expected Reid to be hiding behind some of the trash bins in the alley.

"Do you think…?" JJ didn't even finish the question.

"There are six cups here. Who else in this town would have bought six coffees today?" Blake said answering JJ's unfinished question.

"We need to let the others know. Now!" came JJ's frantic response as she flicked out here phone and prayed that Hotch and Rossi hadn't taken off on their tour yet.

* * *

He was lying on his back on the most uncomfortable mattress on the planet. Wait…he doesn't sleep on his back, he's a stomach sleeper.

For the second time that day Reid's eyes flew open to an unfamiliar environment. The light wasn't as bright as the first time he woke up because the cabin didn't have many windows. He was on his back and it felt like there must have been a paper thin mattress underneath his body. He swore that he could feel bars digging into his body. In fact, there seemed to be bars surrounding his body.

He reached his hands up and grasped the metal grid that was blocking his view of the ceiling. He was in a cage! He wound his fingers through the metal squares and started pushing with all his might. If he could just bend the metal back and forth perhaps he could weaken it into breaking. He concentrated all of his strength into pushing on the bars but they never yielded. With a grunt of frustration Reid started thrashing about in the cage trying to vent all of his irritation at being in this situation.

When he had worn himself out from twisting about he noticed a clanking sound. He didn't see the source until he brought his hands up to rub his eyes. How had he missed this before? He had manacles attached to each wrist and the chains led to a metal collar encircling his neck. He pulled at the collar with his iron clad hands and knew his ministrations were in vain. The collar wasn't budging due to the padlock securing it in place.

"Help! Somebody help me! Please help me!" Reid started shouting. He knew that he was out in total isolation but he had to try.

Seconds later the door to the cabin crashed open and the man from the diner stomped inside.

"Cut that infernal racket out will ya! You know there isn't anybody around…you're just wasting your breath," He bellowed at Reid.

"Let me out of here! You can't keep me like this. I'm a human being, not a pet," Reid demanded from his place on the floor.

"I'll let you out when I'm good and ready," the man said as he disappeared behind a door. Reid could hear the trickling of water coming from the room and realized that it wasn't water at all. He heard a toilet flush and the sink turn on for the man to wash his hands. His captor reappeared shortly after the water turned off and walked over to the couch and sat down.

This was the first time Reid actually paid attention to the layout of the cabin. There were no rooms per say, at least no wall separating rooms. Everything was out in the open in a shared space, like a studio apartment. The couch was the barrier in between the bedroom space and the living room. Of course, there wasn't much of a living room, it only contained a couch and one easy chair positioned facing a fireplace. The bedroom area had a double bed with a nightstand and a dresser in it. The kitchen was across from the two rooms. It was made up of a simple refrigerator, wood burning stove, and a counter with a sink. The table was a two seater that looked like it was dry rotting over time. There were only two doors in the whole cabin; the front door and the bathroom door. Reid's cage was positioned along the front wall under the only window giving him a good view of the entire cabin.

"I didn't realize you were such a spitfire. Usually my guests are too scared to make so much noise their first day here. This is your new home now boy, you better get used to it," the man began, still not introducing himself to Reid.

"Look, you gotta let me out of here. Take me back. The others are going to come looking for me, if they haven't already. You're not going to get away with this for long," Reid tried to threaten him even though he knew the chance of them finding him in this swamp was one in a million.

The man started to laugh hysterically and even had to stoop over in his seat to take a few deep breaths, "Seriously! You really think anyone could find you out here? And why would they even think that you would be with me? Nah kid, give it up. No one has ever found their way to my house on their own. No one comes here unless I bring them. And those few lucky people that have been here never leave alive."

Reid swallowed and clutched at the cage again, "What do you plan to do with me?"

The man snorted, "Do with you? Nothing. You're here to work. Look son, I've got a hard job that requires me to be out on the bayou all day. I need someone here to take care of the place and keep me entertained. I'm not going to do anything to you unless you give me a reason too. So mind your manners and follow the rules and you'll be just fine."

"Work? Entertain?" Reid questioned, not liking the possible implications of the second word.

"You're going to maintain the house and yard for me while I'm out every day. You need to make me my meals and have them ready for when I get home. I'll give you a list of chores that need to be completed to my satisfaction, and if they don't get done you'll face some consequences. As for entertain, do you see anything around here that is amusing? It gets pretty lonely out here. So you're going to keep me company and amuse me at night before we go to bed," the man explained like it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Why me?" Reid asked him the question that had been burning a hole in his brain since he had awoken from his second forced slumber.

"Well, I usually don't go after young men…I've never really been interested in your type. But last night when I was listening to you at dinner I knew you were too good to pass up. Your story was amazing, and I could really picture it in my head. Actually, that fact that you didn't complete it pissed me off a little. You're gonna fix that tonight. I want to know how that lady keeps the king from killing her," John explained.

"Are you going to….are you going…are you interested in me?" Reid could barely get the question out he was so fearful of the answer.

The man looked him over slowly. He was a sight to see, lying sideways in that wire box trap. The boy's hair gave him a feminine appeal and his lips were plump like a woman's. His body was willowy and thin which added to his ladylike appearance. John wasn't sure how to answer this question. He hadn't really thought about it before now, and it would be his first experience with a man. No, he just didn't know whether or not he was willing to go there.

"I'm not sure," John said avoiding eye contact with Reid.

Reid shuddered at the vague answer. He needed to get out of here as soon as possible. This man was clearly unstable and sexually confused. He didn't want to be an experiment to find out whether or not the man was attracted to the same sex. But in order to get out of here, he had to get out of the cage first.

"Are you going to let me out?" Reid said as he shook the cage bringing the man's attention back him and his location.

"Yeah, you need to start on dinner soon. I'm going to lock you up in the kitchen so you can get straight to work. I've gotta go out and set my traps for the night. When I get back I expect there to be a hot meal waiting for me. Do you know how to use a wood burning stove?" John asked as he opened the end of the cage closest to Reid's feet. He watched as Reid wiggled his body out of the box brining most of the bedding with him in the process. Once the kid was out he pulled him up and waited for an answer.

"I'm sure I can figure it out if there is some wood and matches available," Reid said hoping the man would leave soon so he could inspect his surroundings and come up with a plan.

"The stuff you'll need is over there underneath the sink," John gestured as he grabbed Reid's left arm and dragged him into the kitchen. Once there he fastened a long length of chain that was drilled into the wall by the refrigerator to Reid's collar. "Don't want you wandering around yet," was John's way of explaining the necessity of the chain.

Reid's face took on a look of disgust at being degraded again. This man really treated his "guests" more like domesticated animals than people. He tugged on it a bit to test the durability of the fasteners. Just his luck, they were quite sound.

"What am I supposed to cook?" Reid asked before the man could leave.

"I don't care. Check out the fridge and look in the cabinets. Come up with something. I'll be back in about two hours," the man was saying as he was walking out the door.

"Wait! You've never even told me your name or asked for mine," Reid yelled wanting to get a name for his developing profile.

The man stopped momentarily to consider what the boy had said, "My name is John, but you'll call me Sir. As for your name…it doesn't matter. I'm just gonna call you boy."

Reid flinched when he heard the door slam shut after John's departure. He looked around the kitchen and tried to figure out what he was going to do. This whole situation seemed hopeless. He started checking out the food selection, trying to come up with something simple to make. He wasn't much of a cook and preferred to eat out or order in most of the time. He went to Rossi's cooking lesson once, but even then he was late and didn't learn a whole lot.

Reid decided to make a simple spaghetti dinner with the canned tomatoes and a few fresh ingredients he found. It was when he went to chop up the onion that he realized that John had left him with a weapon, actually a few weapons. There was a complete knife block sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for him to utilize to his full advantage.

* * *

Reid did as he was told and made the man dinner like he ordered. He didn't want to alert the man to his plan by refusing to do the one task he was assigned. He found making dinner a bit more difficult than he anticipated with his limited hand movements. He had to be bent over most of the time which caused his back to ache after a little while.

At this point the dinner was done and waiting for the large hulking man to come back from his work to eat it. Reid positioned himself over in the corner where the counter ended and the eating nook began. He had hidden a knife in the waistband of his pants, taking one from the rear of the knife block hoping that John wouldn't notice.

His plan was simple. He was going wait for John to sit down to eat his dinner. Hopefully the man would be relaxed enough to let his guard down while eating. Reid planned on creeping up behind John and incapacitating him in some form. He would then run out to the boat and take his chances on the bayou. Hopefully John's boat had two-way radios for him to keep in contact with the local coast guard or police. So, all Reid had to do was get the boat a sufficient amount away from the cabin, find a unique landform that the local police would recognize and get sit back and wait for help to come. Simple.

Reid was startled out of his plotting when he heard the airboat pull up to the dock outside. He steeled himself for his upcoming freedom and listened closely for John's approach. The second the man opened the door his gaze settled on Reid. Spencer just smiled nervously and said, "I made spaghetti."

The man grunted and dropped his belongings by the door. He walked into the kitchen and inspected the pot of sauce and noodles. Without uttering a word to Reid he grabbed a bowlful of pasta and a fork then sat down to eat dinner.

"Oh, and you better put that knife away boy. We'll discuss your punishment for trying to escape later," John stated before he tucked into his dinner.

* * *

**Read and Review Please :)**


	4. The Raconteur

**Disclaimer: Good show, not mine.**

**Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! To anyone who is following, favoriting, and commenting on my story.**

**Please forgive those annoying things called mistakes.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh, and you better put that knife away boy. We'll discuss your punishment for trying to escape later," John stated before he tucked into his dinner.

Those ominous words sent chills all the way down Reid's spine. Had he heard the man right? Surely he was bluffing about the knife. Could Reid take that chance?

"I'm not going to tell you again boy. You really think you're the first person to try that? You're just making your punishment worse for yourself," John said with no emotion whatsoever, almost like he was bored with the situation.

Against his better judgment Reid decided to see how serious John was by feigning innocence with the knife, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Suddenly John's chair flew behind him and tipped over onto the floor. He stamped over to Reid and gripped him around the neck above the metal collar. He squeezed his throat tightly causing the young man to sputter for breath. Meanwhile, his left hand started to search Reid's body for the missing kitchen utensil. The man quickly found it and positioned it beneath Reid's eye.

"That was a stupid decision boy. When I tell you to do something, do it! Now clean up this poor excuse for a dinner. Spaghetti is not supposed to be crunchy. I sure hope you improve your cooking or you won't last long here," John roared in his face. He made sure to use the knife to nick Reid under the eye causing a small welling of blood to appear, resembling a macabre teardrop. He shoved Reid into the counter behind him and laughed when his captive let out a whimper of pain when the corner was shoved into his kidney.

Reid wasn't even aware that he had been holding his breath when the hulking man approached him. He involuntarily let out that hoarded air the second John gripped his neck and was never able to get back a sufficient amount to breathe easy. The blow to his back caused Reid to have even more trouble getting in a good amount of oxygen, and as a result he felt a bit light headed. Unfortunately, it wasn't time to start getting woozy. He needed to follow John's instructions to appease him and hopefully avoid a serious consequence for his stupidity with the knife.

Reid tried to clean up as quietly as possible in vain hopes of making the man forget he was there. It was a wonder that this man had working plumbing at such an isolated cabin. Though Reid was thankful for John's talented plumbing skills because at least he didn't have to haul water into the cabin and purify it on the stove. He quickly washed the dirty dishes and stacked them back into the cabinets where they belonged. Once he was finished he stood in the corner again, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Mentally he was berating himself for pushing John. He knew he wasn't stable and yet Reid had challenged him. Deep down Reid knew that whatever consequence this man had up his sleeve wasn't going to be pleasant.

While Reid was busy following orders John was getting himself prepared for bed. He had a strict ritual he followed which started with a shower and ended with brushing his teeth. He sauntered back out to the living room when he was finished and started a small fire.

"Don't want to make it too large 'cause the Louisiana nights are hot enough as it is," John said to no one in particular. Once he was successful lighting a small blaze he went over and unhooked Reid from the chain in the wall. He grabbed his arm and steered him to the easy chair. He practically threw Reid down on the seat then made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Now, you need to tell me that story you was telling your friend last night at the diner," John ordered lying back with a pillow under his back.

Reid was confused. He had expected a beating or something worse as a punishment. All he got instead was a place to sit and the demand that he finish a story. If this was his consequence then bring it on!

Taking a deep breath and licking his lips in preparation to begin orating he focused his gaze on the crackling fire.

Remembering exactly where he left off Reid picked up the story, "In order to stop King Shahryar from killing her…"

"No! I want you to tell it from the beginning like you did last night. This time you'll tell the whole thing, no stopping. Now start it over and put some feeling into it," John spit out at his personal storyteller.

Nodding his head Reid retold the beginning of the famous tale of Scheherazade again.

"Once the king accepted the councilor's daughter as his wife he immediately took her to his bed. When he finished his deed as a husband he dismissed Scheherazade, but she did not go. She offered to tell him a story to help him sleep. Pleased with this development King Shahryar accepted her offer and listened to her enchanting voice tell the tale of merchant who ran afoul of a jinni. It was when she came to the climax of the story that she abruptly stopped her telling. She explained to the king that she was tired and that she would conclude the story the next night. The king was in so much suspense that he agreed to her terms and allowed her to live another day. From that night forward Scheherazade was the king's personal raconteur, completing the story from the previous night and beginning a new one, always leaving him wanting more. She continued this for over a thousand and one nights, telling him stories about a poor young man who found a magical lamp, Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and a sailor named Sinbad among many others. By the end of the thousand and one nights she had born the king three sons. Moreover King Shahryar had fallen madly in love with Scheherazade. Realizing that he could never kill her, the king orchestrated a grand celebration and renounced his vow that women cannot be trusted and pardoned Scheherazade from the death sentence," Reid concluded the story and silently sat by to watch John's reaction.

"Wow, boy. You are almost as good at telling a story as Schez…Scherz…that woman. You keep that up and you'll live a nice long life here with me," John said as he sat up from his horizontal position on the couch.

This comment sparked a question in the relaxed Reid that he couldn't hold in, "What do you mean? What happened to the girls that were here before me?"

"Well, like you I asked them to tell me a story each night. Unfortunately, they ran out of things to say and that meant that they had run out of usefulness to me. They kept trying to tell me fairy tales and the same old same old. So as long as you can come up with new and original things like tonight's, you'll be fine," the man said with a huff as he launched off the couch.

At this point in the night Reid had grown a bit too cozy and his guard was down. In fact, he was congratulating himself on telling the story so well that John probably forgot all about that stupid punishment stuff. So Reid was definitely did not expect it when John yanked him up by his neck and pulled him out of the chair.

Before he could even comprehend what was occurring he was thrown down to floor. He started to push himself up and got to the point where he was on all fours when John came along and fastened his collar to a short chain in the floor. He was fastened to the ground with little wiggle room to move, and no way to stand up and defend himself. Reid was momentarily confused, but then realized that his stupidity was coming back to haunt him.

"Stay exactly the way you are boy," John muttered.

"What…what's happening?" Reid's voice quivered in anticipation of the coming pain. He heard the clinking of metal and tried to turn his head to see behind him.

"Stay still! You're only going to make it worse," John commanded as he prepared to dole out his lesson to the trembling mess of a boy.

Without any warning whatsoever John began. Seconds later a stabbing pain erupted on Reid's back from the chain that the man was using to whip him with.

"You get five lashes for taking the knife, five for not putting it back the first time you were told, and five for making such a terrible dinner," John explained while he was delivering the blows.

Each lash left a red streak on Reid's back that was sure to welt after the punishment was over. The feelings that each hit created were unique in that they sent sharp pain through his body upon contact then a throbbing sensation lingered pulsating from each wound.

At first Reid promised himself that he would not make a sound. He didn't want to give his tormenter the satisfaction of success. He didn't make it past the fourth lash and when he let out a yelp. From there his yelps turned into squeals, and squeals into screams.

By the end of the punishment Reid was a sobbing heap on the floor. His body, which had long ago fallen from his position on all fours, curled in on himself. The chain never once drew his blood, but it did cause deep bruising that would stay with him for weeks. Unbelievably, he found himself longing for the padded floor of the cage and the safety of the wire mesh.

It took a few minutes for Reid to realize that John wasn't standing near him anymore, but making himself comfortable in his bed. His sobs finally had abated and he unsuccessfully tried to sit up. The problem was that the chain length holding him to the floor was only a foot long. His only semi comfortable option was lying flat on the floor stretched out on his stomach. He coughed a little to get John's attention in a nonverbal signal that was meant to say, "Hey, you forgot me."

"Boy, you're staying down on the floor tonight. That's for making me get out of my seat at dinner to take care of your disobedience!" he said as he pulled the covers over his body and went to sleep.

Knowing that challenging his captor now would get him nowhere Reid stretched out and laid his head on his arms. A shudder quaked through Reid's body, not from a chill but from the anticipation of what was to come tomorrow.

* * *

It was seven in the morning and five exhausted agents dragged themselves back into the local precinct. Of course, not all of them looked like crap but if you looked deep enough in their eyes you could see the long night of tossing and turning reflected there. The dingy coffee pot in the station was already brewing the caffeinated beverage to help the profilers wake-up.

"Ugh…I can see why Reid was so intent on getting coffee from somewhere else. This pot looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ten years," Rossi lamented as he returned with a cup.

No one responded to his statement. They were still having a hard time with the fact that their friend and coworker had disappeared. Hotch had dismissed everyone last night at ten saying that they weren't going to get much done unless they got some sleep. Of course he was met with a chorus of protests from all of the team members, even Garcia tuning in from her cave, so he had to make it an order. Now they were back where they left off the night before, no closer to finding the unsub or Reid.

"Alright, let's review what we have so far on the unsub," Hotch began.

"We know that he's comfortable with the area based on the locations that he chose to kidnap his victims. He knows the schedule of the locals and picked a time when the fewest people would be present," Blake started the ball rolling.

"We know that he doesn't seem to have a specific preference, unless you count the victims' connection to the field of education. At this point, we know he is targeting women, unless you count Reid. If we do than that throws out the gender specific part of the victimology," Rossi continued noticing the way JJ cringed at the mention of Reid and the unsub in the same sentence.

"But that's just it…we don't know if Reid was taken by the same unsub or a different one altogether. He doesn't fit the initial victimology and his abduction would throw the whole thing off. We may need to work this from a two unsub angle, make a profile for the one that took the woman and another for the one that nabbed Reid," Morgan stated with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"But if you look at the time of day he was taken it does match two of the victims. Also, his age is in the same range as the victims too. It's quite possible it is the same unsub," JJ added trying to help.

"Yeah, but I don't want to sit around and wait a month to see if Reid's body turns up in a gator. Until we have more conclusive evidence I think we need to treat these as completely different cases," Morgan defended his point of view.

"For now I'm agreeing with Morgan. We can't assume that Reid fell victim to the same unsub until we have more evidence. Of course if another victim doesn't get taken over the next few days, we will assume Reid took the next girl's place and reanalyze the profile," Hotch said, putting the debate to rest.

"Now, Morgan go over again what the ME found from the body parts of the victims," Hotch prodded his agent.

"Alright," Morgan said, reluctant to let the topic of Reid drop. "Now, none of the women were found completely intact. Each one had various body parts recovered, and as of yet none of their heads have been found. At least one arm from each girl was recovered from their respective alligators. Each arm showed ligature marks on the wrist. The marks were about two inches wide indicating a manacle as opposed to rope. Jasmine's right leg was found with only faint marks around the ankle, but neither Destiny's nor Shana's left legs had similar marks. The ME said that Jasmine had been restrained at the ankle but not for a long period of time. Finally, the only semi-intact torso that was found belonged to Jasmine. The other two victims did have chunks of their abdomens recovered but the only thing found on those was extensive bruising and cuts. Jasmine's on the other hand had the bruising and cuts but also showed signs of sexual abuse. We can tell by the wounds on each girl that they all received the same type of treatment so it's safe to assume that the other two were assaulted too," Morgan concluded by taking a drink of water to coat his throat after that long report.

"So he likes to control his victims, as evident by the restraints. He also inflicts some kind of punishment or torture on the girls causing the all the bruising and cuts," Rossi added to the profile.

"Let's not ignore the sexual assault," Blake said. "He clearly has some of the signs of a sexual sadist."

"What was cause of death?" Hotch asked Morgan.

"As far as the ME can tell, it was the alligators tearing them apart limb from limb. Unfortunately, without the heads he couldn't be one hundred percent sure," Morgan explained the inconclusive evidence.

"Okay, from here we need to split up and tackle both cases. I want JJ and Blake to go back to Maybell's and reinterview her about Reid. See if she can remember anything else or if there may have been other witnesses in the area at the time. Hell, maybe Mr. Brookins was still in the area. Try to get ahold of him too and see if he saw anything. If you can't find him leave another note with Maybell and have her pass it along. Rossi, you and I still need to tour the bayou since we put it off yesterday. We need to get a feel for the area in order to better understand the unsub we're dealing with. Morgan, you need to stay here and work angles on both of the cases. Call Garcia, get her involved in making a list of people that may fit the profile. We will meet back here at noon to go over what we've found," Hotch ordered.

Everyone nodded their agreement and set off for their tasks intent on solving both cases as soon as possible.

* * *

It was still dark out and the crickets were chirping up a storm. The moonlight gave off the only illumination in the whole cabin, which wasn't much considering there was only one window. Regardless, Reid was disturbed out of his restless sleep by the sounds of John shuffling around the cabin. The man had already gotten dressed and had made his way into the restroom. The door to the room was open and the sound of water running was loud in Reid's ears.

The young agent was extremely stiff from his long night on the wooden floor. His back was still emitting a steady thudding pain from any location that the chain made contact with his back. It was so bad that if there were some prescription pain killers in his vicinity he would seriously contemplate taking them. Alas, that was not an option and he couldn't help but be a little bit thankful that he wouldn't have to deal with that temptation. To make matters worse though, Reid's bladder felt like it was going to explode. He needed to use the restroom. Now!

"John! John, I need to use the bathroom. Please, I can't remember the last time I got to go. John! I don't want to make a mess on the floor," Reid yelled out in desperation. He didn't know how much longer his bladder would hold out.

Reid shut his eyes and concentrated on keeping his dignity intact by not urinating on himself. He heard the rough steps make their way over to his body and listened to the jingling of the chain being unfastened. Reid shot up off the ground faster than lightning and barely made it to the filthy bathroom.

The job of urinating was a bit complicated due to the hand restrictions, but Reid didn't let that stand in his way. Once he took care of himself and washed up he opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

Unbeknownst to Reid, John was waiting on the other side of the door. He nailed Reid in the face with his fist the second he saw those befuddled brown eyes.

"I told you to call me Sir," was his only explanation to the sudden attack.

* * *

**Reid and Review :)**


	5. All in a Day's Work

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show than I would be there right now while they are filming new episodes...not writing FanFiction :)**

**Thanks for the comments, follows and favorites.**

**Please forgive my mistakes!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A confused Reid looked up from his position on the floor and clutched his throbbing jaw. His head was pounding because it hit the bathtub ledge on his way down. What the hell?

"I told you to call me Sir," was the only answer he received.

Understanding dawned on the genius while he sat on the floor processing the situation. Damn, this man was infuriating. He seemed to be looking for Reid to mess up in any way possible just to punish him. Reid shuddered to think about what would have happened if he lost control of his bladder on the floor. With that thought in mind he decided it was time to get up off the floor and find out what this day had in store for him.

He shuffled out into the main living space saw John sitting at the kitchen table tying his shoes.

"Fix my breakfast boy," John bellowed.

Reid gulped and stepped quickly into the kitchen, "It's going to take a while for the stove to heat up…sir."

A rumble issued forth from John's lips, "Damn it! Just make me some cereal. And you need to fix both of us bag lunches."

"Yes, sir," Reid said quickly and rushed to do the crazy man's bidding. He set some Cherrios in front of John and started making the lunches. While making some ham sandwiches Reid couldn't help but think that John might be taking him out on the boat today. Maybe he would be able to push John off the boat and leave him in the swamp. Or perhaps he could strand him on an island while he retrieves some of his traps. Reid's anticipation of the day was bubbling up inside of him. He almost couldn't contain a girlish squeal from escaping his lips. The future looked so much brighter.

"I don't know what you're so happy about boy. You've got a lot of yard work ahead of you today," John said while crunching his cereal. "Make sure you eat something. You're going to need the fuel."

And just like that Reid's hopes for escape were dashed against the wall. His eagerness immediately deflated out of his body like an unfortunate balloon at a child's birthday party. Why did he have to prepare his own lunch if he was just staying here? Wouldn't he be able to come back in and make it when needed?

Once he had made and bagged the sandwiches with chips on the side, Reid decided to nibble on a piece of bread and wash it down with milk. The measly breakfast made him long for his daily dose of coffee. He knew a caffeine headache wouldn't be far off in his future. He got one every time he was denied his personal wake-up juice.

John left his dishes on the table for Reid to clean up while he walked out the door to prepare his boat. Curious about what John was doing Reid sneaked over to window the cage was under and watched. He saw John load a cooler and a tool box onto the boat. After that John went around the back of the house and grabbed a gas can to top off the fuel tank. Reid scurried away from the window the moment it looked like John was headed back into the house.

John quickly stomped back into the house and grabbed the brown bags. He looked Reid up and down and snorted.

"Ya need to change clothes. Ya can't do yard work in those," he stated.

"I…I don't have any other clothes to wear…uh sir," Reid muttered with his eyes downcast.

"Hold on," John said as he started to raid his dresser. He came back with a pair of drawstring sweats and a t-shirt. He threw them at Reid and waited expectantly for him to change.

Reid scooted his way over to the bathroom and closed the door. He changed his pants but then had to stop when he realized that he couldn't take his shirt off unless John released his hands from the manacles.

He opened the bathroom door and emerged to find a smirking John.

"Need my help don't you?" John asked with amusement in his voice.

Reid just nodded and held out his hands.

John unlocked the chains around his wrists and they swung in front of Reid's chest still attached to the collar. Reid turned to go back into the bathroom but was stopped by John's tsking.

"Just change out here, boy. I don't need you trying to hit me in the head with those," John said gesturing at the swinging chains.

Reid went and retrieved the shirt from the counter in the bathroom and came back out. He changed faster than lightning, not wanting to give the man a longer show than necessary. Unfortunately, John was all over him the moment his arms materialized from the shirt sleeves in order to refasten the restraints.

"Follow me," John simply said and walked out the door.

It was pushing sunrise on the second day of Reid's captivity. The pink and orange hues were streaking through the cypress trees on the eastern side of the island. It was going to be a hot humid sunny day down on the bayou. Reid was thankful that the sun was coming up because he quivered thinking about having to work outside in a dark spooky swamp.

The minute Reid stepped out of the cabin John locked the door, ensuring Reid couldn't get back inside without him.

"Don't want you lying about the house all day," he said as he nudged Reid's back in the direction he wanted him to go.

They walked around to the back of the cabin and stopped by the tool shed. John opened it up and took Reid inside.

"All the tools you'll need today are in here. Look around ya. Everything has a place, and it will be back in its place when I come home. Don't think about pulling another trick like you did with the knife. Now you need to weed the garden, mow the lawn, chop some wood, and do the laundry. I left the basket of dirty clothes down by the water with some detergent. The logs are over there piled by the tree stump with the axe, and I think you can figure out the rest," John explained.

Reid just nodded knowing a verbal response was not needed. He was panicking a little on the inside knowing that all of this work was not going to help is still aching back. In fact it almost seemed like John planned the chores to purposefully inflame the bruised skin. How was he going to get all of this done while enduring his back pain?

Maybe he could try to swim away from here. Well, he would have to dog paddle due to the restraints. On a positive note though, John is leaving him outside without supervision. It's possible he could get through the trees and find a place to hide. Then, when John got home and was busy searching the island for his missing storyteller, Reid could commandeer the boat and take off.

Again the agent's glimmer of hope was put out like a candle in the wind when John grabbed his arm and steered him over to the backside of the house. There was a large coil of chain resting on the ground with a combination lock hanging open on the last link. John wasted no time fastening it to the back of Reid's collar and said, "I want you sitting here waiting for me when I get back."

"Why do you need to lock me up? It's not like I can go anywhere," Reid tried to get the man to change his mind and shook his chains as a reminder.

"Ha…you wouldn't be the first person to try to swim away. I decided this is the best way to avoid that asinine behavior. Anyways, after what you pulled last night I wouldn't put it past you to try something foolish like swimming with alligators," John said as he placed two bottles of water and Reid's lunch bag next to him. "I'll be back late tonight so I'll pick up something for dinner. You're going to be too exhausted to make me a decent meal anyhow."

Reid plopped down in the dirt outside the house and wallowed in his misery. Why did it seem like every plan he devised was spoiled before it got off the ground? Now he was stuck here doing a god-awful amount of back-breaking chores and all the while he was chained to the house like a dog. Reid pulled at the chain knowing it wasn't going to break. This thing was going to get in the way all day too!

He wondered what would happen if he didn't do any of the work John had left for him. After thinking on it for a few minutes he decided he didn't want to find out. So he shoved himself up off the ground and wandered on down to the laundry. He might as well take advantage of the cooler temperatures and shade before the sun made its complete appearance.

* * *

"Nothing, we've got absolutely nothing," Morgan said with frustration bright and early the next morning.

"Yeah, I feel like we've hit a dead end," JJ agreed.

"Look, I know that it seems like the trail has gone cold, but there are still things we can do," Hotch said trying to rally the troops and reverse the negative attitude that was threatening to take ahold of them.

"Like what? We've already looked at the suspected abduction sites, you've toured the bayou, Maybell and John really didn't add any information, and the ME examination only gave insight to the unsub not where he is located," Morgan shot back.

"The minute we stop trying is the minute we give up on Reid," Blake tried to argue with Morgan, "and I for one do not plan on giving up."

"I'm not suggesting we give up. I just don't know what else we can do," Morgan said.

"Well, let's start talking about where we think this unsub is holding his victims," Rossi started.

"Are you saying that we are merging Reid's case with the girls?" JJ asked.

"At this point, I'm thinking they're one and the same," Rossi explained.

"Fine by me," Morgan said, "I was thinking that all along anyways. It makes more sense for us all to be focusing our strengths on the same thing."

"So I repeat, what type of location would this unsub prefer?" Rossi asked again.

"Well, he wouldn't want anyone to hear the girls' screams. So, I would focus on isolated areas," Blake said.

"That doesn't help much. This whole place is isolated," JJ stated. "Oh, sorry," she added when she saw the disconcerting look Blake gave her after that statement.

"Don't worry about it. We're all worried about him," she replied soothingly.

"Okay, focus. The girls were all found in alligators that were caught as game. Perhaps the unsub lives out in the bayou," Hotch said redirecting the group.

"You could be right. And, I think it's safe to assume that he has a boat for transportation. How else would he know every twist and turn?" JJ picked up excitedly.

"Yeah, if he's out on the water he could easily conceal the bodies to transport them. Hell, he could even be using them as bait. I think we need to take a serious look at all of the fisherman that frequent this area," Morgan said getting excited that they were finally on to something.

"We're still waiting on Mr. Brookins to get us that map of all of his preferred places to trap. Once we get it we can take it around to the other hunters and have them mark their spots. Then we can get out on the swamp and start looking around for any evidence," Rossi added.

"What type of evidence do you think we'll find at the fishing locations? I mean it's not like we're going to find Rei…a body hanging from a tree as bait," Morgan asked. "Maybe we should ask them to mark dwellings or shelters that are being utilized."

"You've got a point. Okay, here's what we're going to do. You three will split up and take maps around to the locals that are familiar with the swamp. Rossi and I will start with the sheriff and his officers, and then we'll go down to the docks and try to catch some of the workers. We'll all have them mark any buildings that they know of out on the swamp. Afterwards come back and we'll condense all our findings onto one map, and start the physical search from there. Morgan, call Garcia and have her make a list of known structures in the area for us to reference. Tell her to also make a list of all the commercial companies that work in these parts. We may need to interview their workers in addition to the local independent fisherman. It's going to be a long day, but I have a feeling that this work will pay off," Hotch explained before setting off with Rossi.

* * *

Doing the laundry took up most of his morning. First of all, he had to overcome the disgust he had when the initial item he picked up to clean was a pair of John's underwear. Honestly, the man should clean his own boxers and spare Reid the revulsion of touching another man's dirty unmentionables. Then, he had to figure out how to use a washboard. Once that was taken care of he set to work on the basket full of laundry. Reid was surprised at how long it actually took to clean the clothes; it always looked easier on the pioneer documentaries he watched. From there he hung up the clothes up to dry on the line not far from the shed.

The day wore on and the blistering humid heat had Reid soaked with sweat well before lunchtime. The sore agent had stopped when the sun was high in the sky to eat the sandwich and drink a whole bottle of water. He had tried to ration the water so he could have one bottle at lunch and one later on in the heat of the day. He was definitely going to tell John that two bottles aren't nearly enough to keep hydrated on a day like today.

After his lunch and a brief break to help his back cope with the work he decided to hit up the gardens. The vegetable garden was at the far end of the island. John must have figured out the length of the chain exactly because Reid wasn't able to go further than the last row of veggies. It took about an hour to pick through the plants and remove the unwanted weeds. All the while he was on his knees bent over, irritating his sores. Maybe once he got away from this psychopath he would let the girls take him to get a massage. He smiled at the idea of hanging out with his friends, and he let it comfort him for a bit.

Once he finished the garden he went and worked on the front flower beds. He had an easier time weeding it because he could sit on the wood that bordered the beds. After about a half hour he declared his work up front done and wandered into the backyard again.

Looking up at the sun he estimated that it was around two. At that point he was dying of thirst and feeling a bit dizzy from the relentless tasks. He polished off the second bottle of water not thinking to save some for later. Then out of desperation Reid went down to the water and waded in as far as the chain would let him. He splashed some of the murky water on his face to relieve the sunburn he could feel blistering on his skin. He wiped his face on his shirt and could feel irritation prickling where he upset the burn. Luckily, the cooling effect of the swamp helped to bring his body temperature down a few degrees and refreshed him enough to continue.

Walking back to the shed Reid looked down at his exposed arms and knew that he was going to have a rough night tonight. It always took a good hour after being in the sun for the full sunburn to emerge and he knew that he was going to be lobster like on all exposed areas.

Begrudgingly he decided to cut the lawn next, clearly avoiding the task of chopping wood. The mower was a simple gas powered model that started after he pulled the cord a few times.

Mowing the lawn turned out to be more of pain that he realized it would be. The chain kept getting in the way. He had to constantly stop to remove the obstruction. At first he got the idea to run over the chain to see if it would break, but realized he had a better chance of breaking the lawn mower than the chain. To make matters worse, there were a ton of obstacles to mow around too which added more time spent on the task.

By the end of the mowing Reid was utterly exhausted and dying of thirst. He knew that he wouldn't be able to make a dent in the wood pile. It didn't matter anyways, how was he supposed to swing an axe with restrained hands? Reid chose to collapse against the side of the house and curl up in the shade to take a nap.

He must have fallen asleep because a clap of thunder jolted him awake a while later. He scrambled off the ground and looked up to the sky. The atmosphere had gone dark and there were thunderheads rolling over the top of the house. A streak of lightning crashed down from the clouds and Reid counted the seconds until the thunder sounded. He estimated that the storm was about five miles off so he started to make his way to the tool shed for shelter.

Reid was cursing John for not getting back yet. What was taking him so long? Now he had to endure a thunderstorm in a dark unstable shelter filled to the brim with sharp tools. The genius was so lost in in his tirade against his captor that half way to the shed he tripped over a portion of the chain that he hadn't bothered to wind up earlier.

He tried to throw his hands out to break his fall but it didn't really work. Instead he scolded himself for being inattentive and groaned at his world renowned clumsiness. All of a sudden he heard loud rumble but it wasn't thunder. Reid forced his head up and found himself looking right into the open jaws of an alligator.

* * *

**Reid and Review :)**


	6. Escape Attempt

**Disclaimer: If I owned this show there would be alot more Reid whump going on.**

**Sorry it took so long for an update. I was on a business trip the last few days and couldn't write. Unfortunately for you guys, I am headed out on vacation tomorrow so it might be another week before I can update.**

**Thanks to everyone who has decided to follow, favorite, and add my story. A special thanks to all of you amazing reviewers! You really motivate me to write and make me feel good about my story.**

**Please forgive any stupid mistakes! I am truly sorry for their appearance.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Reid was frozen solid. In front of his face was the gaping maw of an American alligator and all 74 of its sharp carnivorous teeth. He had watched multiple programs on the Discovery Channel about these ferocious creatures throughout his lifetime, but at the moment all helpful tidbits of information escaped his brain. The only thought running through the genius's head was, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

He must have pissed off Mother Nature at some point today because she decided to unleash hell's fury in the form of a massive thunderstorm. The rain started pelting down and it obscured his vision. The lightning and thunder crashes started to come almost simultaneously signaling that the worst of the storm was right on top of him. The ground quickly became soaked and the dirt under Reid's fingers changed into mud.

The alligator issued another rumble from its chest which was barely distinguishable from the thunder. The restrained agent tried to calm his breathing down so he could think logically. As his brain cleared he recalled that one program he watched said that if an alligator approaches you, you should run away. They don't have much in the way of endurance and the likelihood of outrunning them on land was very good. Unfortunately, being chained up like a dog severely limited the distance Reid could sprint.

Reid pushed himself up off the ground and slowly planted his feet into the mud. He stood up and looked around to see the best place to run on with the limited length he had available. The genius spotted a propane generator positioned about ten feet behind the tip of the alligator's tail. Perhaps he could climb up on top of it and wait for John to come and rescue him.

Deciding that it was his best option, Reid readied his willowy body for a mad dash around the alligator. The exact second he lifted his foot off the ground another thunderous roar erupted through the sky and distracted the genius. As a result, the young man's left food made contact with the slippery ground and he lost all traction. Consequently, he tumbled down onto his back with his limbs spread wide.

It took Reid a second to get his bearings after falling, but when he did he propped himself up on his elbows. Panic ensued the moment he noticed how close his right leg was to the alligator's vicious smile. Reid watched helplessly as the tip of the alligator's mouth closed around his unprotected shin. He felt the sharp teeth enter his skin and tear the flesh. A painful sound escaped his lips but he tugged at his leg hoping the alligator would let go.

The facts that were fleeting earlier came crashing through his skull. He knew that resisting the alligator was the first step in the right direction. They are lethargic creatures and working hard for their food is unappealing to this species of reptile. He also knew that if worse came to worse he would have to poke it in the eyes, which is the most sensitive part of the gator's body. It would take the creature by surprise and motivate it to release him.

Luckily, the gator seemed to figure out that its prey was larger than it thought and released Reid's leg from its jaws. Motivated by fear and the fact that he didn't want the creature to change its mind Reid jumped up and booked it to the generator. Pushing past the pain emanating from his leg, he struggled to climb up on top of the generator. From his perch he watched as the alligator resumed its previous activity of just sitting on the ground waiting for food to come to it.

Shivering, he brought his right shin up and pealed his pant leg away from the wound. There were six puncture marks where each jaw clamped down, revealing the boarder of the bite. Reid swore the gator looked like he was smiling with satisfaction at the success of getting a small snack from its intended victim. Looking back at the wound he saw that the flesh was torn and a chunk of it was missing. Blood was oozing out of the wound and winding its way in rivulets down his feet. It soon pooled on the generator but was promptly washed away by the rain. Reid decided to rip the pant leg off completely starting from the spot the alligator already tore and wrapped it around the gash to help stem the blood flow.

Reid recalled one last fact that he had learned about alligators while he was sitting there in the rainy misery. He remembered that one of the documentaries mentioned how gator bites are highly prone to infection, and left untreated could become fatal. That thought alone sent a shiver down his spine. There was no way that Reid would be able to sufficiently clean the wound well enough to combat the aggressive bacteria that lived in the alligator's mouth.

* * *

John was extremely pissed off. The rain decided to come down when he was the farthest away from the cabin. There was no way that he was going to get home without being soaked to the bone. He had just picked up dinner from Maybell's rival diner and knew he was at least an hour away from home. Cursing Mother Nature, John freed his boat from the dock and set off toward the cabin.

Before this infernal storm decided to pop up his day had been going rather well. He dropped off two gators at Maybell's this morning and picked up the map the FBI wanted him to fill out. Of course John was going to mark the map with places he frequented, but he was going to neglect anything within a five mile radius of his cabin. He laughed at how easy circumventing the FBI was turning out be. Well, it's not like he was giving them any reason to be suspicious of him anyhow.

The agents…just thinking about them turned his mind back to the boy at the cabin. He knew that it was stupid to kidnap and FBI agent, but he couldn't resist. That kid had such a way with words. John had only heard him tell a story twice, but each time he was held completely enthralled.

What worried John was that throughout distributing the punishment to his errant captive he started feeling a sort of attraction develop. He had noticed the boy's effeminate qualities right when he saw him, but last night was the first time he started thinking about how attractive they were. It scared John a little because he had never swam in these waters before. He had only been attracted to women in the past, and this girlish young man had him thinking twice. Could it be that John was just too starved for a woman that anything was looking good to him? Or was he really just captivated with the boy and his stubborn behavior?

Shoving the confusing thoughts from his mind John decided to focus on driving the boat safely through the rain and getting back to his captive as soon as possible.

* * *

Reid sat on top of the generator for nearly an hour as dusk grew around him. In that time the storm drifted off into the next state leaving the air feeling heavy and moist. The alligator seemed to be sleeping contently on the cold wet ground. It was still too close to the generator for Reid to feel confident enough to get off without going toe to toe with the reptile again.

His head snapped up when he heard a familiar sound coming from the direction of the passage. It was the unmistakable noise of an airboat thrumming through the water. Reid watched as the boat docked and John's hulking body started to unload his materials. The agent considered yelling out for help but decided against it. John was going to find him soon enough and see the cause of his distress. Within five minutes the hulking man came tromping towards the perched prisoner and his source of anxiety. John stopped within a few feet of Reid and turned around. At first Reid was worried that he was just going to leave him out there all night to fend for himself, but he noticed that John was retrieving something from the boat.

John had grabbed a snare, perhaps the same he used to capture Reid, and was walking back toward the alligator. He quickly snared the gator and steered it back into the water. He skillfully removed the wire from around the creature's jaw and watched as it swam back out into the swamp flinging its tail back and forth to achieve fluid movement.

John made his way back over to Reid and gestured for him to get down from his position. The genius scrambled down off his perch favoring his right leg. He stood there silently waiting to see what his captor would do next. Much to his relief John unfastened the chain that was attaching him to the house. While it didn't make the metal collar around his neck any looser he felt better knowing his range wasn't limited.

John grabbed his arm, ignoring his captive's obvious pain at putting weight on his injured right leg. Reid allowed himself to be led onto the front porch. When they got to the locked door, John threw him on the ground so he could undo the deadbolts. Once John was successful he kicked Reid until he crawled inside and shut the door behind them.

Sprawled on the floor Reid heard John mutter, "Go clean yourself up."

So he got up off the ground and limped into the bathroom. He started running the water in the bathtub and sat on the edge of it submersing his feet in the cool water. Once it reached three quarters of the way up the tub he removed his pants and the bandage and allowed the water to cover his body. He left his shirt and boxers on while in the water, not that it mattered anyways since they were already soaked from the rain.

He found some soap and started working on the wound. A few whimpers escaped his lips as he scrubbed. There was definitely dirt embedded in the gash that he tried to clean away, but he knew that if the alligator did transfer some bacteria to him than it was too late to fully clean it.

With a sigh he let the water out of the tub and extracted his body from the ivory bath. He limped over to the sink and looked underneath it for some first aid materials. Finding some bandages and gauze he wrapped up his leg and shuffled into the main room.

John was sitting at the kitchen table eating out of a take-out box. It smelled like some sort of chicken and potatoes and it made his mouth water. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the smell wafted up his nostrils. He cleared his throat and waited for a reaction from John.

"Get over here and eat while there is still something left," John grumbled seemingly resenting sharing his food.

Reid did as he was told and sat down at the table. He hesitantly picked up a fork and pulled a take-out container over to his side of the table. He gave John one more look, checking to make sure he was allowed to eat.

"What are you waiting for?"

Not having to be told twice, Reid wolfed down the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It was cold and greasy, but to the famished agent it was heaven. Once he made short work of the food he disposed of the container and cleaned up John's mess.

The fire was already flickering in the living room area providing a soft glow throughout the room. Assuming that tonight would be just like the last he sat himself in the armchair and looked to John for instruction.

Silence filled the room and Reid assumed he was just supposed to start. He decided that since John liked the fairy tale he told last night he could just pick another one to orate this evening.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl living with her widower father. He met a wonderful woman that complimented him in every way and she too was a widow. He asked her to marry him and she accepted. Next thing the little girl knows, her stepmother is moving in along with two stepsisters. They got along…."

"No! I don't want to hear this story. All those girls before you told it to me too. I thought you were different. The story that you told last night was original. That's why I took you! I want to hear something new, not something I can read in any children's book," John ranted as he sat up on the couch.

Fearful that John was going to get up and come after him, Reid quickly said, "Okay…okay. I've got one."

"There once was a prince named Spencer that lived in a faraway kingdom. He was a valiant prince and he made it his job to protect the citizens that lived under his father's rule. Whenever there was a crime it would be reported to the prince and his teammates. They would look into the situation and do everything in their power to bring the criminal to justice," Reid paused to see how John was reacting to this new storyline. The man seemed intrigued, so the he decided to continue telling the story.

"One day a member of the community came to Prince Spencer frantic with fright. There had been two killings in the area over the past few days, and each of the victims had been stabbed over thirty times after being bludgeoned with various materials. The prince immediately comforted the good woman and told her that he would take care of it along with his team brave knights."

It took Reid about an hour to tell the whole story of the young schizophrenic man, Ben Foster, from Portland, Oregon. Reid decided earlier that if this man wanted original stories he would get them in the form of former case files. There was no way that he had heard any of these tales before and Reid could easily make them sound like ancient fairy tales. For example, he took the fact that Ben was seeing hallucinations and attributed to demons, like they would have in the past.

Throughout the story John would interrupt the telling to ask Reid questions. He seemed genuinely drawn into the tale and emotionally invested. When Reid got to the part where Ben almost killed Prince Spencer John let out a cry of worry. Satisfied that he was doing a good job Reid ended the story with a preview of the next night.

"After the team had successfully stopped Ben they all went back to the castle to celebrate. Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short when a frantic teenaged boy broke through the guarded doors pleading for help. His father had been shot in the stomach with an arrow and bled out all over their farm field. The son begged the team to find the man responsible for the killing in order for his family to find peace. It looked like Prince Spencer and his friends had more work to do," the irony of leaving John with a cliffhanger was not lost on Reid. It was like he was now Scheherazade trying to keep John, King Shahryar, entertained in order to stay alive.

When the story ended John grunted, got up off the couch, and walked over to the arm chair.

"I had to go out to the woodpile to get some timber to start our fire," John said cryptically. "I noticed that you didn't chop a single piece of wood the whole time I was gone. And, the laundry that you supposedly cleaned was all over the ground and coiled around the line. I don't know what the expectations were at your old place of work, but this is unacceptable. What did you do all day? It doesn't take that long to mow and weed. Look boy, if you want to stay alive you're going to have to pull your weight around here. Stand up and get ready for your punishment."

Reid's whole body started quaking with fear. He vividly remembered the last punishment and could still feel the aftermath of the lashes on his back. He didn't know if he could handle another fifteen hits with the chain.

He slowly stood up and winced in pain when he put pressure on his right leg. He followed John over to the eye bolt that he was fastened to last night and shrunk back in fear.

"Are…are…are you going to hit me again?" Reid asked with eyes that begged his captor to say no.

"Nah, that would be letting you off easy. Now stay there!" John thundered as he left the cabin to go and fetch something from the tool shed.

Reid wished he could run and hide somewhere, but he knew that it was pointless. But then again, he hated standing here so submissively waiting to receive a punishment for something he couldn't prevent. So instead of standing by idly he made up his mind to try to make a break for the boat.

Reid crept out the front door and looked around. There was no sign of John so he took off running toward the docked airboat, heedless of the pain shooting up his injured leg. He heard something clank to the ground behind him and a bellowed, "What's this?" but he didn't let that deter his mad dash.

His feet had taken their first steps onto the dock when all of a sudden Reid was surrounded by cold brackish water. He felt his body hit the rocky bottom of the bayou and struggled to push off the sandy ground. His chained hands provided little help as he tried to paddle up to the top to get some air.

When Reid's head finally emerged above the water he drew in an enormous amount of air and started coughing. Looking around he saw John standing above him on the dock glowering down. The man must have caught up to him and pushed him into the water to stop his escape attempt.

Reid started to move his body past the dock and toward the shore when he felt a viselike grip contort around his neck. John was actually pulling him up onto the wooden dock by his neck! Reid's iron clad hands clawed at John's one meaty paw trying to release his grip. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful and ended up sprawled on the quay coughing up a lung.

"I thought you're move yesterday couldn't have been stupider, but you seem dead set on proving me wrong. I'm going to make you beg for last night's punishment after what I have in store for you," John said with bitter vehemence.

Reid's only response was a weak whimper. He tried not to make any sound but the tone in John's voice scared the shit out of him.

"Boy, you're never going to escape this island. You should just give up now because the only way you'll leave me is in the belly of an alligator. Your friends will never find you and you're going to spend the rest of your life as my bitch," John whispered sinisterly into the ear of his trembling captive.

* * *

**If you got an idea for the "punishment" feel free to leave a note. I have a few ideas up my sleeve but would love to hear your thoughts!**


	7. The Burning

**Disclaimer: I will never be rich enough to afford this show nor do I make a profit off of my story.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The only thing that Reid could focus on was the velvety thick black night. He turned his head away from John and tried to block out the harsh words that were being whispered in his ear. He couldn't help but let a stray tear streak down his cheek when the man told him he would spend the rest of his life on this island.

Reid didn't want to believe those daunting words, but they gave voice to his worst fears. John was right. No one would be able to find him out here. The team could search the bayou for years and still never venture into John's section of the swamp. The genius knew that his survival was in his own hands but every time he came up with a plan it was always thwarted. He was running out of ideas and he was running out of hope. With those thoughts in mind, Reid had to bite back a sob as he tried to contain all of his despair from bursting forth out of his body.

"You're going to spend the rest of your life as my bitch," still echoed in Reid's ears as he waited for John to dish out his vicious punishment. What did that entail? He had heard those words before when Garcia was being playful, but he doubted John was using the same connotation. It scared him because he didn't want to feel any more pain, he didn't want to be forced to do more back breaking chores, and he certainly didn't want to tell John stories anymore.

Reid felt a large hand grip his chin and force his head to turn. He was looking his captor right in the eyes as John took his thumb and wiped away the tear on his cheek. "Come on now, no crying. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it," John taunted as he wrapped his hand around Reid's neck and pulled him into a standing position.

"Let's go. I want to show you something," the large man demanded as he steered Reid into the shadow enshrouded backyard.

Familiar with the layout of the property, Reid noticed that John was directing him toward the woodpile. They stopped next to the tree stump that had an axe embedded in it. John picked up the axe effortlessly and twirled it in his callused hands.

"I know you can't see well out here in the dark and all, but get a good look at this," John exulted as he shoved one of the sharp parts of the axe head in Reid's face. "You see all that dirt…it's not dirt, but the blood of the girls that came before you. This is how I got rid of them and how I'll get rid of you too. I chopped off their heads in one quick swing, and then I dismembered their bodies. The next day I spread their parts around the swamp and let nature take its course. It's kinda funny how some of the alligators I've caught have been the ones that snacked on those girls. But hey, that's what brought you here so I guess it worked out for well for me in the end. Now get down on your knees," John ordered.

Reid just stood there with his thoughts running a mile a minute. This was it! John was going to kill him. His stupid attempt at escape had pissed John off so much that now he was just going to end it. The team was going to find him, or parts of him, in the belly of an alligator. Who was going to break it to his mother? How would they tell her? "Mrs. Reid, I'm sorry to tell you that pieces of your son have been found in an alligator."

All of a sudden his legs buckled and dropped him to the ground. John had swung his leg up and pushed both of his hinge joints forward unlocking his knees causing the fall. Reid felt his knees sink into the soft muddy ground as he realized that he was about to take his last few breaths.

"Please don't do this. I promise I won't try anything else. Please give me another chance," Reid begged his captor, desperate to buy himself a few more days of precious life.

"I told you that you would be wishing for last night's punishment. Stop your sniveling and act like man," John grumbled as he pushed Reid forward onto the stump with his foot. He pinned the genius in place with his foot and rested the axe on top of his shoulder.

Underneath the heel of his killer, Reid gripped the stump with his hands. He turned his face and placed his left cheek flush against the wood. He felt John move his hair off of his neck and splay it out behind his head so his target was unobstructed. Knowing that his pleas and struggles would be ignored, Reid decided to look out at the tranquil dark water that was lapping against the shore of the island as he waited for the life ending blow.

* * *

Morgan sat in his hotel room and looked out at the darkened sky. They had worked all day on trying to find Reid and the unsub. By the end of the night they still had nothing new and no conclusive evidence that the two cases were really connected. The radio was playing softly in the background while the muscular agent contemplated what might be happening to his best friend.

Was Reid out there alone and scared? Had the unsub hurt him in any way? Was he receiving the same treatment as the women before him? He knew his friend was strong. But would Reid be able to withstand being kidnapped again? Hell, would the team be able to get through this again?

Tomorrow the team was hoping to get the map from the local fisherman and start exploring the bayou. They were going to rent out a few boats and guides to help them search every nook and cranny of the swamp. Morgan was determined that no space would be left unturned. Every cabin, shack, or rotted out hut would be inspected. He was sure that the culprit resided in the twists and turns of the swamp. How else would it be so easy to take his victims without suspicion, keep them captive, and dispose of them so conveniently to the creatures of the deep?

A knock sounded on Morgan's door and for a minute he contemplated ignoring it. The knock came again but with a bit more force behind it this time. Morgan groaned as he got up and looked through the peephole. It was a distraught looking JJ. He opened the door to her red eyed puffy complexion.

"I can't sleep. All I can think about his Reid and what's happening to him. I was hoping…," JJ trailed off as she started to unload her problems on Morgan.

"You were hoping that I was awake too. Yeah, come on in and make yourself comfortable," Morgan said as he moved out of the way to allow her to enter.

JJ cleared her throat and asked, "How are you holding up?"

"Not much better than you. I didn't even bother trying to sleep. So…what's up?" Morgan said trying to shift the conversation away from himself.

"Do you think he's still alive?" she came out and asked the one question that's been on her mind.

"Well, we haven't found anything that would suggest otherwise. Until we do, I'm not going to give up on him."

"Derek, I don't know if I can do this again. This thing is already going on longer than the last time he went missing and I barely held it together then. I feel so useless. I should be doing something but instead I'm at a hotel crying my eyes out. I'll never forgive myself if we find…if we find bits and pieces of him in an alligator," JJ agonized to the listening agent.

"JJ this isn't like last time. You've gotta remember that. This is a completely new scenario with very different variables. We know that he keeps his victims alive for at least a month. We have time to find him. Tomorrow we are all going to be out there looking for him. We will bring him home. I promise you that!" Morgan explained to the distressed woman.

"But will he be in once piece. Some of the body parts of the victims we found showed signs of torture, restraint and even sexual assault. How can we make sure we get back the same genius that we lost…again?" JJ questioned.

"We can't be sure what shape he'll be in. But JJ, you know that we'll all be there to help him along his road to recovery. I guarantee that it will not be a repeat of the last time. And, you've gotta remember that Reid is stronger now too. I bet you any money he already has an escape plot. Heck, maybe he already has gotten away and is trying to make his way to a phone to alert us. We have to stay positive and not give up until we have unequivocal evidence that says he's….dea…gone," Morgan said stumbling over the last word.

"You're right. Thank you. I really needed to hear someone else's perspective, especially someone who has gone through this before too," JJ said as she got up to exit the room.

"No, sit. Stay awhile," Morgan encouraged as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out some little bottles of liquor and poured them both a drink. "Here's to Reid. May he one day find a cure to being such a trouble magnet."

Their glasses clinked together in a toast and they proceeded to talk about their favorite Reid moments long into the night.

* * *

Reid heard the thud of the axe hit the wood and wondered when the pain was going to hit him. Nothing. He felt nothing but a breeze gently caressing his forearms. He released his death grip on the stump and tried to turn his head. When he finally got his head to rotate and face in the other direction he saw the axe. It was centimeters away from his nose and underneath the blade were bits of his hair that were shorn off.

"Ha, you should see the look on your face, boy. It's priceless," John laughed at Reid.

"What? I don't understand. I thought you were…," Reid dropped off.

"That was the point. I needed you to realize that I am serious. The next time I won't miss that pretty neck. But I would probably have to remove that collar to get a better target. Didn't think about that, did ya?" John asked.

Reid simply shook his head and made to sit up. John pushed him back down with his foot before the agent could get fully erect.

"Now who told you to get up? Stay put. I'm not through with you. And if you so much as move a muscle when I'm gone I won't hesitate to take that pretty head of yours off that neck," John threatened as he walked over to the tool shed.

Knowing that he didn't have any viable escape options and not wanting to add more pain to his punishment Reid did as he was instructed and stayed glued to the stump. He could hear rustling coming from the shed, like John was looking for something specific. The man came out of moments later holding a handheld tool.

"This is a battery powered soldering iron. I bought it awhile back when I thought I was going to learn how to decorate pieces of wood and leather. I never got around to it though, so this thing is brand spanking new! I wouldn't mind getting some practice…you up for it? Ah, who am I kidding? I don't care if you're up for it or not," John said with a bit of laughter in his voice.

He turned on the soldering iron and stood over Reid. The realization of what was to come flowed through Reid's body and sent him into uncontrolled shivers.

Reid watched as John swung his booted foot backwards and brought it forth to make contact with his ribs. The man must have been wearing steel-toed boots because he swore it hurt more than a simple kick should have.

"Flip over boy. I wanna see your stomach," John ordered with another kick to his captive's ribs.

Groaning, Reid allowed the next kick's momentum to flip him over onto his back. Only his head was supported by the stump now and he tucked his hands around his chest. John straddled his hips and started to pull up Reid's shirt. Panicking, Reid started bucking his hips to get the older man off of him. His mind was running wild with possibilities of what John was going to do, and none of them were appealing.

He stopped his resisting when the sting of a punch numbed the right side of his face. He was going to have a black eye for sure if not a cracked cheekbone from the force behind that punch.

"Sit still or I'll burn designs where the sun don't shine," John warned as he pushed Reid's shirt up to his chest. "Hmmm…now what should I write?" he mused as he brought down the soldering iron onto Reid's pale stomach.

The soldering iron was unforgiving as it branded the genius's skin instantly. No matter how hard he tried to keep his cries of anguish from escaping, Reid could not contain them. The scream that issued forth from Reid's lips would have woken Rip Van Winkle from his twenty year sleep. The distressed agent continued to shriek the whole time his body was being scarred. By the end he was gasping for breath and whimpering tiny wails of pain.

As soon as the torture was finished John stood up and looked down at his handiwork. The word "slave" was etched just below the young man's bellybutton. The skin's reaction to the soldering iron was not surprising. There were multiple blisters forming, blackened cracked skin where the letters were, and bright red burn marks encircling the finished product. Nerve damage was unavoidable, scaring was inevitable and without proper care infection was inescapable.

All Reid could do was stay on the ground and wallow in his agony. He desperately wanted to pull his shirt down and cover the burn but he knew it would irritate the already aggravated wound. He didn't even realize that he was only taking his breath through his teeth and hissing in pain as he rocked his body from side to side. He started moaning about how much it burned hoping that John would give him something to cool down his scorching midsection.

Tired of hearing all the sniveling coming from his slave, John scooped Reid up in his arms bridal style. Usually Reid would be struggling to get out of the man's grip, but he was hoping that John was taking him inside to dress his wound before it became infected. Throughout the trip Reid kept his eyes closed trying to focus his thoughts away from the pain. He could hear John's feet tramping on a wooden floor and pealed his eyes open to see where they were. Confusion took over when he realized they were still outside.

Suddenly the arms that were holding him fell away and Reid plunged into the icy water of the swamp for the second time that night. The effort to get back to the surface this time was compounded by the searing pain, and at one point he thought he was going to run out of breath. Finally, his head broke the water and he yelled out, "Help!"

John leaned down from his perch on the dock and said, "I thought you said it was burning. A good swim should cool it down and stop the blisters from forming."

"Please! Help me out," Reid keened.

"Alright, alright. Don't let me hear you complain about the pain after this. I was just trying to help and you act like it's killing you," John responded reaching for the miserable genius who was trying to stay above water.

Grabbing Reid by the neck once again John hauled him out of the water and let him sputter on the dock. The kid looked like a drowned rat laying there in shock.

"Get up. It's time for bed. We've got alot of work to do tomorrow," he ordered the young man.

"I can't," Reid mumbled ashamed that the pain was so great he couldn't get up onto his own two legs.

"Really? Is it that you can't or you won't? You know what boy, I am done trying to be reasonable with you. If you can't get up on your own than you're just going to have to spend the night out here," John said as he walked off leaving Reid alone on the rickety dock.

Afraid of having to spend the night in the thick black bayou Reid frantically tried to get on his feet. Unfortunately, the pain really was too much to handle and he didn't get any further than bending his knees. He was focusing so hard on trying to get up off the dock that when the booted feet thudded down on the wood again he let out a little squeal of surprise.

Reid heard the rattling of chains and propped his body up on his elbows to see what was going on. John had fetched another length of chain with manacles on each end and brought it back out to the dock. He attached one to Reid's right ankle, looped the chain around one of the posts below the surface of the dock and attached the other end to his left ankle.

"Need to make sure you don't try to make off with my boat again," John said as a way of explanation. "All right, good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the alligators bite," he called with a bit of mirth as he walked away toward the cabin.

Terror flowed through Reid's veins as he realized that once again he was trapped outdoors, and at the mercy of any creature that could smell his festering wounds.


	8. From Bad to Worse

**Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of Criminal Minds.**

**Thanks to everyone who left me a comment! They really made my day! Also, thanks for following and favoriting the story.**

**Please forgive any mistakes!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alone.

Staring up into the vast night sky, Reid had never felt more like an insignificant piece of dust in the cosmos than he did right now. He was all alone in this adventure and the realization of that fact was crashing down on him like a ton of cement. No one was coming to help him out of this. He was on his own and out of ideas.

He hadn't slept all night due to the pains emanating from his wounds. His abdomen was on fire, his alligator bite was throbbing, and the welts on his back were irritated from having to lay on them. He had tried to shift his body around a few times over the course of the night, but each time he moved searing pain would remind him why he needed to stay still.

In the end all he could do is lay there and think. Think about his pain, think about his wounds, and think about how useless it was to wish for his friends to come and save him. He knew now to stop hoping for a valiant rescue. He knew that when he looked up an airboat wouldn't be rushing down the channel blasting a megaphone calling out his name. The swamp was too big and there were too many hidden paths. If he wanted out of this he was going to have to do it by himself. But how?

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard the front door open and John's mighty footsteps echoed on the porch. Reid realized that he had made it through the night safely without any encounters with the vicious creatures that roam the area. He propped himself up on his elbows and wearily watched the approach of the large man.

"Morning sunshine," John called tauntingly as he crouched down by Reid's feet. "I had an excellent sleep last night. How was yours?"

Ignoring the stupid question Reid resigned himself to observing John's movements and trying to hold back complaints of pain as his legs were jostled. He watched as the man released his ankles from their chains and wound them up.

"That bad, huh? Well, I've got news for you. Today you're going to spend your day indoors. Get up. Let's get a move on," John demanded watching as Reid struggled to his feet.

The pain in his abdomen was excruciating but the young genius battled through it. Honestly, he was worried that any noise coming forth from his lips would buy him another ticket into the water. It took him about two minutes to stand fully upright putting most of his weight on his healthy leg. Once he was steady on his feet he followed John back into the cabin and waited for instructions.

"Today you're going to clean the cabin from top to bottom. I can't stand a filthy home, and it hasn't gotten a proper cleaning since the last girl was here. So you need to do the floors, clean everything in the bathroom, scrub out the fireplace, sanitize the kitchen, dust the furniture, then change the bed and remake it with clean linens. You also have to have dinner ready by the time I come home. I was thinking stew or something hearty like that. When you finish with everything find something else constructive to do. I don't want to see you lazing around when I get back. Are we clear?" John asked after his long list of instructions.

"Yes, sir. Um…sir?"

"What?"

"Do you think I could take a shower and clean my wounds out first, sir?" Reid said with some hope laced in his words.

John looked him up and down and saw how filthy he looked even in the meek candlelight that was illuminating the room this early in the morning. He gave a grunt and flipped his hand toward the bathroom. Instead of shuffling off, Reid held his hands out to get the manacles unlocked so he could bath without his clothes on.

John pulled the key out of his pocket and said, "Don't think about trying anything."

Reid just shook his head signaling that he had no intentions of attempting any misdeed and limped into the bathroom. He heard John telling him to leave the door open a crack and did just that. The first thing he took care of when he reached the bathroom was his bladder. He held it in all night long hoping for a chance to use an actual toilet.

After his bladder was taken care of, he carefully stripped off his clothes trying not to upset his injuries. He turned the shower to temperature and wasted no time getting in. Immediately, his burns reacted slightly to the water so he tried to position his abdomen out of the direct stream. Cautiously, Reid lathered his body avoiding any sensitive areas. Throughout the rinse he swore he could actually feel the dirt cascading down his frame and into the drain. He wasn't sure how long he stood in the heated water, but he was jostled out of his thoughts by a hand thumping against the cracked door.

"Hurry up! I ain't got all day," John hollered.

Reid quickly cut off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack next to the shower. He got out and dried off. There were clothes sitting on the closed seat of the toilet waiting for Reid to don them. He slid on the pants but didn't put on the shirt yet. First he treated his burns with the little bit of cream in the kit and wrapped the remaining gauze around his waist. There were no bandages left over for his gator bite which had started turned red and angry around the puncture sites. Reid knew that an infection was setting in, probably from the horrid swamp water that infiltrated the wound twice.

He looked up from his shoddy attempt at first aid and saw John standing in the doorway watching him. How long had he been standing there? The look on his face was creepy too. It reminded Reid of the agents, himself included, that practically salivate over seeing one of Garcia's famous desserts innocently waiting to be consumed.

"Uh, sir? You're out of gauze, antibacterial cream, and burn cream. If you want me to stay healthy you're going to need to buy some more," Reid explained.

"Really. Maybe you should just stop trying to escape," John responded as he secured the manacles around Reid's wrists again. "Whatever. I don't want you dying on me too soon. Get in the kitchen and make a list of anything else we might need. If I have to go into town for your whiny ass, I might as well make the most of it."

Reid put his head down and walked past John into the kitchen. Taking a piece of paper from a notepad magnetically attached to the fridge, Reid made a list of foods he was comfortable with making. He handed the list of groceries and medical needs to John.

The man snatched it out of his hands and shoved it into the pocket of his overalls. Then he ran a chain from the eyehook in the floor to Reid's collar, securing him to the cabin. "Remember what I said. This house needs to be spick and span before I get home. Dinner will be ready and waiting and you will not be loafing around. Try following my instructions for once and maybe you'll finally get to sleep in a bed," John said before he walked out the door.

Out of habit, Spencer jerked on the chain to test its reliability. It was as sturdy as ever. Reid exhaled a large breath of air and looked around, trying to decide where to start first.

* * *

Morgan rolled out of bed earlier than usual. He wanted to meet Mr. Brookins at Maybell's diner and get the map straight away. The rest of the team was going to be at the station by 6:30 and they were going to break off into search parties.

Morgan arrived to the diner just in time to see John pull up in his airboat. The massive man wrestled an alligator carcass out and carried it up to the kitchen. Morgan walked up to the building following the same path that the fisherman had taken. He could hear snippets of conversation coming from the kitchen and decided to let himself in through the screen door.

"Good morning," Morgan said startling the only two people in the building.

"You again? Well good morning to you too. I hope you and your friends don't plan an interrupting me again during my morning rush," Maybell was quick to say.

"No ma'am. I'm just here to see if Mr. Brookins brought the map with him," Morgan explained turning to John.

"Oh yeah. I got it. I filled it out last night," John answered and reached into his pocket to extract the map.

"Thanks man, this is really going to help. I hope it wasn't too much of a problem."

"No problem at all. There isn't much to do at night where I live. I just had to take care of annoying critter that had been messing around in my yard. After that I had plenty of time to help ya'll," John replied thinking about how much fun he had last night straightening out the young agent.

"Well, thanks again. Oh, and remember to contact us if there is anything else about the swamp that you think we need to know about," Morgan said as he took the map and beat a hasty retreat.

"See ya later Maybell," John said as he walked out of the diner. All the way back to his boat he was congratulating himself on how easy it was to circumvent the FBI.

* * *

The day turned out to be longer than expected. The team wasn't able to fully gather back together until around five. JJ and Blake were the first to arrive around four, having been on the same airboat together. Their guide had driven them countless miles through the swamp but their journey turned up nothing but burnt out cabins and stranded boat docks. The women made their way back to the station and analyzed the large map that was displayed. Blake started making notations on the map marking off the places they visited. JJ's stomach started rumbling and she realized that she hadn't consumed anything since breakfast. Knowing that the rest of the team would be famished when they got back she made an executive decision.

"I'm going to run over to that grocery store food counter and get us all something to eat. I think everyone is going to need a good meal by the time they get back," JJ told Blake.

The other woman simply nodded her head and went back to what she was doing.

The grocery store had a few patrons walking the aisles and there wasn't anyone at the food counter. JJ walked right over and was immediately served by the same waitress as the first time she visited.

"Hey honey! Back for some more food? Where's that guy that was with you last time? I still want to hear the end of his story," the friendly woman asked.

"Um…he's busy at the moment. As for the food, I need enough to feed five hungry agents," JJ said.

"Sure thing! I'll fix ya'll up with something good," the waitress said taking the order into her own hands.

With nothing left to do JJ decided to profile the customers that were checking out. The first person in the checkout line had only a few items and they were all perishable. JJ figured that she was on an errand trying to get the odds and ends her family must have run out of at home. The next person in line startled JJ a bit because she kinda recognized him. It was the man that was sitting at the counter the night Reid told his story. Wanting to know more about him, she decided to listen closely to his conversation with the clerk and observed his purchases.

"Hi John! How are you doing?" the young man said in greeting.

"Hi yourself," John responded unloading his groceries onto the conveyer belt.

"Wow, you sure have alot of stuff today. I would swear you must be buying for two. Did you meet a lady?" the clerk asked not realizing how much he was annoying John.

"No," was the simple reply.

"Ah well, sometimes you just gotta stock up the pantry. Am I right? Huh, look at that. You are a cracker lover. I mean…who needs to buy both saltine and oyster crackers? They both do the same job," observed the clerk.

JJ's head perked up at that statement. Was it just a coincidence that she had said the same thing to Reid only a few days ago? She looked over the other objects on the belt trying to scrutinize whether or not any of Reid's other favorites were present.

"I don't know. Just ring up the purchase," the man grumbled to the nosey boy.

"Did you hurt yourself recently?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you don't look hurt. But I see you're buying lots of first aid stuff. Just stocking up on that too?" the boy pried innocently.

John didn't honor him with a response and chose to look around instead. His gaze settled on a pretty blonde woman sitting at the food counter. She was curiously inspecting his groceries and then she looked up and made eye contact with him. He immediately recognized her from being with his boy. At that moment he knew he needed to get out of the grocery store as soon as possible.

"Look hurry it up! I've got things to take care of at home and Maybell is waiting to drive me back to my boat," the man demanded as he started bagging his groceries in haste.

The young man finally heard the hostility in the man's voice and rushed to finish his job. He announced the total and took the man's payment. Both JJ and the clerk stared as John quickly pushed his way out the doors, almost knocking through the two customers coming into the store.

"Here's your order hun," the waitress said coming back with three bags full of steaming hot food.

JJ grabbed the bags and threw down enough cash to cover the bill. Leaving her change as a tip, she rushed out of the store and over to the station. She needed to talk to the others, now!

* * *

Reid's day of house cleaning was uneventful but agonizing. Scrubbing and washing were not exactly injury friendly tasks. He could see spots of blood soaking through the bandage around his waist which increased his worry about infection. Already he felt warm, but he wasn't sure if that was from working hard or some sort of bacteria battling it out in his body on a cellular level.

When it came time to start dinner Reid was at a loss for what to do. So, he started the fire in the stove and waited for it to heat up a bit. Then he grabbed a large metal pot and began dumping random ingredients into it. He decided that if John wanted a stew he was going to get one. Technically, a stew was just a mixture of solid foods cooked in a liquid and served in the subsequent gravy. So he was confident that whatever he ladled into a bowl later would pass inspection.

Once he had the stew cooking on the stove Reid sat down in the large easy chair. He knew that John didn't want him to be sitting around, but he had worked hard all day. He deserved a break! Exhausted he looked around the small cabin. It may not look large, but being told to clean every nook and cranny of the place really made it seem like a mansion inside. Lost in thought Reid reminisced on the strange things he encountered today too.

It seemed that John had an eyehook in every possible location throughout the cabin. Each room had multiple places to hook a chain, some on the floor, on the wall, and even a few attached to the bed frame. Reid also found a stash of women's underwear under the bed along with his boxers. There were three bras and three pairs of panties stashed in a box. He knew they were from the women that were here previously and hated the fact that his boxers had joined them. Overall John's creep factor just went up by a few notches. What did he do with the used underwear? Wait…Reid really didn't want to know.

He heard the approach of the airboat and jumped up. He acted like he was cleaning the window tracks with a cloth and watched John walk up with all the groceries. The man looked deeply disturbed by something and wordlessly dumped the bags on the kitchen table before walking out again. Reid immediately took to unloading the food and putting everything in its right place. By the time John came back in the table was clear and there was a steaming bowl of stew waiting the big man.

Reid stood by and watched the man eat, having already partaken of food before he got here. When he was finished with the meal John pushed the empty bowl away and went into the living room. Reid quickly cleaned up after him and went back to the arm chair.

Tonight he told the story of Philip Dowd and his hero complex. It was a hard story for Reid to tell because reliving a first kill isn't a good thing for anyone that isn't a psychopath. Throughout the story Reid would look up and each time John's gaze would be glued on him. It started making him feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Reid thought back to last night and how his captor brushed his tear away in an almost gentle way, and how today he was watching him in the bathroom. The signs weren't looking good for Reid and it scared him.

Once he finished with the story a silence hovered over the cabin. Reid anticipated a rundown of all the things he did wrong when cleaning, but one never came.

"The house looks good boy. See what you can do when you put your mind to it. Now remember what I told you before I left…if you follow my instruction you might get to sleep in a bed," John said as he stood up.

Reid mentally did a happy dance at the thought of sleeping on something soft for a night. The padding would definitely be gentle on the welts on his back, and maybe he could even cover up with a blanket. The other thing was that he could tell his body temperature was increasing, signaling a fever. He wanted to rest in order to help his body fight the infection before it got worse. So, wordlessly he stood up and waited for John to release him from the eyehook.

With a gleam in his eye, John walked over to Reid and unfastened the chain. He dropped it down to the ground with a thump and stared at the genius. The fisherman grabbed his slave's upper arm and steered him toward the bed.

"Wait…what's going on?" Reid questioned quickly not liking the direction they were headed.

"We're going to bed," John answered as he squeezed the boy's arm tightly.

"I'm fine with sleeping over there," Reid said, pointing toward the cage he woke up in three days ago.

"Not tonight," was all John would say as he pushed Reid down onto the mattress.

Not taking this without a fight Reid immediately began to struggle. He was about to roll off the bed when John's hulking form was hovering above him getting ready to attach him to one of the eyehooks in the bedframe. Instead of submissively waiting to be restrained Reid kicked out his legs and nailed John in the abdomen. His aim was true because seconds later John was hunched over clutching the nightstand gasping for breath.

Without many options at his disposal Reid chose to attempt to run out to the boat again. Deep down he knew that this was a futile plan, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he went down without a fight. He didn't even make it to the door when his captor's thick arms wrapped around his waist and tackled him to the ground.

White hot pain sizzled through his body as he fell on the floor, grinding John's hands into his burnt abdomen. Stars overtook his vision and the want to throw-up came on strong. He felt himself being lifted up from the floor and flung on the bed. No matter how hard he wanted to fight back he was too consumed with pain to even try. He could hear his collar getting attached to the head board and groaned when he felt a tugging at his feet. Moaning Reid tried to roll over onto his side, but he felt a weight pushing against his shoulders holding him down.

"I think you must be getting stupider every day. Didn't we go through this last night? You will give in to me, whether you like it or not. I was going to take it easy on you, what with this being our first time and all. But I think your little stunt just convinced me otherwise," John said as he climbed up onto the bed.

* * *

**Yeah, we're going there in the next chapter...**


	9. Powerless

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show season 9 would have already started.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, adds, and favorites. You guys rock! **

**I am upgrading the rating of the story to M because of the content of this chapter.**

**Warning: Noncon (don't like, don't read. You can skip down to the first break in the chapter if you need to)**

**Please forgive any mistakes. I am staying up past my bedtime to publish this. So it is quite possible I missed something when I edited it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

No! No, no, no, no, no. No, was the only word that ran through Reid's brain as John's 300 pound frame pinned his hips to the bed. The squished agent threw his hands out as far as they would reach, wishing they would stretch far enough to push the man off of him. He tried to buck his hips but his body didn't even make it a millimeter into the air. His last resort was his feet. Perhaps he could take him by surprise and nail John in his back. Unfortunately, the second he jerked his legs in an attempt to make them swing they were met with resistance. It dawned on him that the tugging he felt earlier was his feet being fastened to the bed. When he tried them again he realized that he only had enough slack to bend his knees.

"No. Please. I don't want this," he said trying to appeal to the man.

"It doesn't matter what you want boy. You're here to meet my needs. And right now, this is a most pressing need," John said shooting down his hopes.

"But...but I'm not attracted to men," Reid said.

John snorted, "I'm not either. But it's been too long since the last girl, and your features are really feminine. I don't have to try too hard to imagine I'm with a lady looking at you."

John started to stroke Reid's face, tracing his jaw line with his thumb. He grabbed the boy's chin and plastered a smothering kiss on his captive's lips. John's dry and cracked lips presented a major contrast to Reid's soft and moist ones. The prone agent could feel the persistent push of his captors tongue trying to gain entry into his mouth. He sucked his lips into his mouth and tried to clamp down on them with his teeth desperate to seal his mouth shut. Undeterred by his victims attempt to stop him, John snaked one of his free hands up Reid's chest and gave his left nipple a vicious pinch. Reid gasped in surprise at the intrusion which gave John an opportunity to force his tongue in the resisting mouth. Gagging on the thick appendage invading his mouth, Reid's brain quickly ran through a list of actions that he could take to get out of this horrid situation. He locked onto the only plausible choice for the moment and bit down on John's tongue with all his might.

The large man howled in pain as he pulled out of Reid's mouth. His tongue had teeth marks marring the center with drops of blood coming from a few spots where Spencer's teeth pierced the flesh. John put his hand to his mouth and pulled it away in disbelief at what had occurred. Reid could see his captor's thoughts flashing through his eyes, and wasn't surprised when John's fist came down and slammed him in the face.

"Never. Do. That. Again," John yelled as he nailed Reid in the face after every word.

Reid was seeing stars again after the brutal assault on his face. He worked his jaw back and forth to make sure it was in working order and forced his eyes to open. He allowed his hands to roam over his visage to make sure his nose was still sitting straight. Once he was sure he was back in order he answered John with more defiance than he had ever given before, "I would do it again in a heartbeat. Keep your dirty tongue out of my mouth."

"You will take what I give you! I don't care if it's my tongue or anything else I decide to use," John growled back, not used to encountering insolence in his captive's.

"You do and you'll live to regret it. I'm not afraid to bite off anything you put near my mouth, let alone in it!" Reid said with vehemence.

"We'll see about that," John said bring his hand to Reid's face in an attempt to capture his chin.

Reid quickly snapped his teeth at the man's hand intent on proving his point.

"I'll fix this right now," John muttered as he flung his body off of the bed.

Reid watched as he lumbered into the utility room and heard him rummaging around. While the man was occupied elsewhere the restrained agent started pulling at the metal collar around his neck hoping to dislodge it. It wasn't budging so he allowed his hands to travel to where the chain was attached to the collar. He fiddled with the padlock, wishing he had some sort of pick he could use, but it was steadily fastened. He let out a grunt of frustration when he realized how helpless this man had made him.

The man came back out and straddled Reid's waist again. He held up a roll of shiny gray duct tape and proceeded to peel the tape away from the roll.

"Try biting me now," he said as he bent over to wrap it around the prone man's head.

Spencer used his limited arm range to try and push John's hands away from his face. Unfortunately, the fisherman put the tape aside momentarily and scooted his way up Reid's body. He positioned himself so that his crotch was directly underneath Reid's chin. Then he took the boy's manacled arms and pinned them down with his knees.

"I could think of so many other things that we could be doing right now," he said with a gleam in his eye and a threat in his voice as he reached behind him for the duct tape. Once he got a hold of it he wound it around Reid's head effectively stopping the young man from biting.

John backed up and positioned his body once again at his captive's waist releasing the pinned hands. "I would think twice before touching that tape. I have no problem with breaking any fingers that come into contact with it."

Not wanting to push his luck, Reid forced his hands to stay away from his face. John got back up from the bed and grabbed Reid's ankles. He pulled him down the bed as far as the chain attached to the collar would allow. The strain on the chain forced the metal collar to dig into the sensitive skin of Reid's neck just below his chin. The genius's hand immediately went to his neck to try and alleviate the biting pressure that was cutting into his skin.

John then proceeded to push the boy's shirt up to his shoulders and bunch it around his neckline. Then he quickly gripped Reid's pants at the waist and pulled them down to his ankles, fully exposing his nether regions. This action was met with muffled cries and ineffective struggles from his captive, but the hulking man just ignored the fruitless resistance.

Forgetting the threat from earlier, Reid's hands flew to his mouth hoping to rip off the tape so he could cry out at his captor. John immediately noticed the movement and grabbed his right hand. Without a second thought he snapped the index finger and then moved to the left and gave it the same treatment. Tears from the pain issued forth from the boy but John simply said, "I wasn't lying. Try it again and the rest of your fingers will find themselves bending the wrong way."

Throwing his hands around his chest Reid could only lay there cradling his broken digits and wait for the nasty fate John had in store for him. The man turned his attention back to the task at hand and got back up on the bed. This time he sat in between the boy's legs and forced them to bend at the knee. The view from his position allowed him to survey the fragile body and relish in the site of the brand he inflicted on his prisoner yesterday. He traced the letters with his finger enjoying the feeling of the raised skin and blisters he encountered.

Reid's breathing sped up as each caress of his burn sent slivers of pain through his abdomen. When John finally broke out of his trance he looked down on Reid and said, "This is going to be fun."

Without hesitation John pulled down his pants and exposed himself to the young genius. Reid closed his eyes not wanting to witness his own rape, but John smacked his face and ordered, "Open your eyes. Keep them on me the whole time. I wanna see the fight go out of your eyes!"

Focusing his eyes on a beam of wood in the ceiling Reid tried to obey the command. He took in a deep breath as he saw John prepare for the initial penetration. The second that the man's thick member was thrust into his hole he felt a burning agony spread throughout his body. It burned like the fires of hell! The friction that was created due to the lack of lubrication made Reid feel like a blaze had ignited inside his body. The whole experience felt like it lasted for hours, but in the end Spencer would never know the actual length of the encounter because he eventually passed out from the combined assault and irritation of his previous wounds.

* * *

JJ rushed back from the grocery store with lightning speed. She needed to talk to Morgan and get his take on her crazy conjecture of what she just saw. The minute the blonde got back to the police station she yelled, "Morgan!"

Luckily, the rest of the team had gotten back from their searches while she was getting them nourishment. The man in question turned away from the map that he was analyzing with Blake and gave her a worried look.

"Morgan! Do you remember the conversation we had with Reid about his eating habits the day we took this case?" JJ asked frantically.

"Of course, JJ. How could I forget his strange quirk for eating pickles with fruit punch and milk with soup? Why?" Morgan asked.

"Well there was a man at the grocery store across the street that was buy both oyster crackers and saltine crackers," JJ said like that should be explanation enough.

Throughout this strange conversation the rest of the team was silent wondering where the perky agent was going with this exchange.

"Okay…but that doesn't mean he has anything to do with Reid," Morgan responded understanding now what JJ was trying to say.

"I know that it's not enough proof, but I got the strangest feeling off the man," JJ said.

"JJ, you know we can't do anything based on a grocery purchase and a feeling. Was there anything else about this man that could link him to Reid?" Hotch asked trying to discern more information from his worried agent.

"Well, it wasn't the first time I've seen him. The night we got here, Reid and I went to the same grocery store counter to get all of us dinner. While we were waiting for food Reid started to tell me a story about some king. While he was talking I looked around and the same man from today was listening to the story while he ate his dinner," JJ told them.

"That's still not enough to go on," Blake said as she processed the information.

"I know..." JJ trailed off. "Oh! Wait. There was something else. The cashier was commenting on how much food he was buying. He claimed it was twice the normal amount the man usually purchased. And, he called him out on buying first aid stuff when he didn't even look injured. The guy got all nervous and started looking around to see if anyone was listening. After he laid eyes on me it seemed like he panicked and rushed the clerk to hurry and check him out," JJ explained desperate to convince her team that something was fishy about this man.

"Hmm…once you look at all those pieces it does seem like one big coincidence. And I don't believe in coincidences," Rossi muttered after digesting the specifics.

"I'm beginning to agree with Rossi," Hotch said. "Did you get a name on the guy?"

"What? Oh...no. I didn't even think about it. I was in too much of a hurry to get back to you guys. But wait…the cashier did call him John," JJ remembered.

"No last name?" Morgan asked.

"No."

"Well, I want you and Morgan to go talk to the cashier. See if you can get a last name and any other information on the man that might be pertinent," Hotch ordered. "The rest of us are going to focus on the map and try to narrow down tomorrow's searches."

* * *

JJ and Morgan got back within a half hour with their startling information.

"Guys, it turns out that John's last name is Brookins," Morgan said in his most serious tone.

Blake gasped at the revelation and said, "Isn't that the guy we got to make the map of the swamp for us?"

"The same one," Morgan answered.

"And according to the clerk he never buys that much stuff," JJ added. "Don't you think we now have enough information to at least look into the guy? I mean he made the map of where we should search. What if he manipulated the map to make us look in all the wrong places?

"Okay, what we have on him is still a bit flimsy, but call Garcia and have her check into his background," Hotch directed JJ. "The rest of us need to look deep at what John marked on the map and see if there is anything he might have left out. If anything, we can't avoid the places he didn't mark tomorrow. If this lead gets stronger we may have to focus solely only on the areas he neglected to indicate."

"Tomorrow?" Morgan questioned.

"Yes, tomorrow. It's too dark out now to go traipsing through the swamp. Anyways, none of the guides would be up for it after putting in a full day work already. We are going to finish up reanalysis and then go back to the hotel. We will start bright an early in the morning. Hopefully Garcia will have some new information for us and we will have a whole new direction to follow," Hotch directed them, leaving no room for argument.

* * *

Reid woke up before John the next morning. It was still pitch black outside, almost a reflection of the young man's soul. He felt hollow and empty. What he went through the night before drained him of any emotion that was left in his deteriorating body. To make matters worse his fever had spiked through the night. When he added it together with the pain from his various injuries his mind felt like it was in a foggy haze.

As he awoke more, the agent knew that he was too stunned from last night's events to really process his current situation. He knew that his feet and neck were still attached to the bed and that he was still gagged with the duct tape. The large man was lying next to him on the bed softly snoring, seemingly in a blissful sleep. Reid turned his head to look at him and was disgusted by what he saw.

John's pants were nowhere to be seen. His crotch was exposed and dirty. Reid could see his own blood staining the man's penis. The sight made the genius want to throw up, but he knew that wasn't an option when he couldn't expel anything out of his mouth. Refusing to look at the monstrosity next to him anymore Reid turned his head away. He decided to work on the tape instead, hoping that since the assault was over it wasn't needed anymore.

He reached up his left hand and started to pick at the gray sticky tape. He knew that he was going to pull out some hair when he peeled off the layers flush against his skin. He found the edge of the tape and started to yank it.

Suddenly his hand was stopped in mid tug and pulled over into a beefy palm. John growled at him and said, "I thought I told you not to touch that."

With wide eyes and bated breath Reid watched as the man bent the middle finger and ring finger of his left hand back until they broke. Another cry of agony was muffled through the tape, but John was able to enjoy the pain filled face of the boy anyways.

"You just never learn do ya?" was all John said crawled back over onto his captive and got ready to relive all of last night's fun.

* * *

**Next chapter: Reid finally figures out how to get off the godforsaken island.**


	10. Firestarter

**Disclaimer: No own.**

**Hi friends! I know that this update took longer than usual, but let me explain. I have been off on summer vacation these past few months and able to write freely. I started work this week and it is kicking my butt. On top of that I found out I am pregnant. Apparently you get really tired in the first trimester and I have fallen victim to that symptom. I am always exhausted and its been hard to make myself write. Don't worry though! I will never give up on my stories. They will get finished. Actually, this one only has one chapter left. So anyways, sorry for making you wait so long. Hope you like the story though.**

**Please forgive any mistakes. I didn't edit it as much as I usually do in a rush to get it published for you!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Reid had run out of tears to cry.

He had no option but to lay there as John assaulted him for the second time that morning. The large man took forever to reach his climax and when he did he collapsed on top of the young genius. Reid's breath was squeezed out of him due to the man not supporting his own girth. His body seemed to be enveloped in folds of flesh and it made the boy squeamish.

John laid there for five minutes catching his breath and coming down off of his orgasmic high. "Wow boy. You were better than I expected," he declared with a toothy grin. The man then hopped off the bed and went to detach the gag.

Reid was excited that the suffocating tape was finally getting removed. He lifted his head so John could unwind it easier. As expected when John got to the last layer of tape it pulled up some of the exposed skin and ripped out pieces of hair. The agent didn't even whimper because the pain was minimal compare to everything else he had endured.

"You were so tight. I think you might have ruined me for women now," John said as he stood next to the prone agent laying his hand on Reid's thigh.

Reid jerked his leg hoping to dislodge the man's hand, but to no avail.

"If I didn't know any better I would say you liked it too!" John said as he began to move his hand up Reid's thigh getting dangerously close to his exposed genitals.

Reid, afraid of where this was going stayed silent and glued his eyes to the hand that was straying up his leg. He had hoped that John was spent from his earlier activities and was finally going to release him from the bed, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. John, taking Reid's silence for agreement continued to move his hand until he was fondling the boy.

"No, stop! I don't want that. Let go!" he cried praying the man would just leave him alone.

"Now don't think that I didn't notice how your soldier was saluting during our recent activities," John said smiling with glee.

"It's a natural reaction to a stimulated prostate, not a signal that I was enjoying it," Reid said trying to get the man to see reason.

"Ha…I just think you're too afraid to admit that you liked it as much as I did," John said as he started pumping Reid's penis with his fisted hand.

"No…stop! Stop!" Reid tried again wishing that there weren't chains holding him down. He strained his hands against the maximum length that was attaching his wrists to his neck wishing he could reach the man's meaty hand. He began to tug at his legs which were still chained at the ankles too hoping to disrupt the man's ministrations. Momentarily forgetting about the pain in his fingers he clawed at the collar around his neck trying to remove it. Unfortunately, his struggles were futile and didn't stop the man from completing his mission.

Reid started to feel flush from the treatment he was receiving. He knew what was happening was his body's natural reaction to the attention that it was getting but the actual arousal was embarrassing. How could his body betray him like this? Mentally he was screaming in disgust and anger at being violated but physically his body was responding. It was the most shameful thing he had ever experienced.

When the deed was all said and done Reid's body had somehow magically manufactured more tears. He hadn't even realized that they were silently falling down his cheeks and soaking the pillow under his head.

"See, I told you that you were enjoying this too," John said as he wiped his hand along Reid's leg transferring the cum back to the body that produced it.

Hearing those words broke a little something inside of Reid and he actually began to sob out loud. He could hear his sorrow echoing throughout the cabin and couldn't get his emotions under control. The broken agent never desired someone to comfort him more than he did now. He cried himself calm and noticed that John was no longer in the room. He could hear the shower running and wished that he was the one enjoying the hot water. He longed for nothing more than to wash away the blood and cum the encrusted his body. Instead he had to lay here wallowing in his own filth waiting to be released.

* * *

John was running late due to his morning activities and started to take it out on Reid the moment he emerged from the bathroom. Careless of the injuries that his captive had incurred John quickly released the boy from the bed and shoved him into the bathroom. Reid fell to the floor after the rough push and flung his arms out in front of himself to break the fall oblivious in the moment that some of his fingers were broken. He let out an agonizing cry after upsetting his already fragmented fingers and struggled to get himself up off the floor.

John only gave him minutes to run a damp cloth across his naked limbs. When he was done he only felt a small semblance of cleanliness. He wasn't given any new clothes and had to wear the ones that were on him last night. As soon as he emerged from the bathroom he went to the kitchen. He wasn't hungry at all but he automatically went about preparing John's lunch for the boat. It was a difficult preparation due to the fact that four of his fingers were out of commission, but the lumbering man wasn't going to listen to Reid's excuse for not doing his work.

The best description as to how the genius got through the morning routine was autopilot. His body was working on its own accord and his mind was taking a backseat. The agent couldn't really remember how he ended up out in the yard less than a half an hour after being allowed off the bed. In that moment he was aware that John was giving him instructions on what to do today, but he didn't register any of the words having lost himself in his mind earlier that morning trying to block out the atrocities that had happened to him.

He didn't come out of his self-inflicted daze until he heard the airboat start up and drive away. It was then that he reached up to the metal collar and itched at a slight annoyance that was rubbing against the back of his neck underneath it. He worked on alleviating the itch with his right hand sans index finger. He forced his middle finger between the metal and skin intent on vigorously scratching the spot. The boy stopped when his finger contacted something strange. Poking it free from the collar and bringing it in front of his face Reid saw his salvation. Regardless of his stupor this morning his subconscious mind must have been working on an escape, because there clutched in his hand was the pack of matches used to light the stove.

* * *

The team assembled bright and early as expected. They were all anxious to get on a boat and search the spots that John neglected to mark on the map. While they knew that their proof was sketchy at best it still felt like this was the lead they had been waiting for all along. No one wanted to think about the possibility that this wouldn't pan out so they all kept their doubts quiet.

They had three airboats at their disposal today, one of them being the official police boat for the area. The sheriff and Rossi decided to head out together on that one while JJ and Blake took another. That left Hotch and Morgan to team up with the same local tour guide as yesterday. The team split up the remaining area that had been left unsearched and synchronized their radios to the same frequency. They could all feel that this was it. Either they would be successful today with their new perspective or they may never find Reid.

They had been out on the bayou for an hour searching the previously overlooked locations when their boat pulled up at what looked like an old abandoned fishing shack. While they were searching the premises for any signs of John and their missing agent, Morgan decided to break the oppressive silence that had built between him and his coworker.

"Hotch, do you think this is really going to work?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know. But the fact that John made our map and we have been unsuccessful with our search thus far seems too coincidental," Hotch answered with a frown.

"I agree, but you have to admit anyone that wasn't on this team would call us out for not having enough evidence to follow this lead," Morgan replied.

"True, but they aren't here," he said. "Look, let's just get through today."

"Right. Take it day by day, but how many mornings does Reid have left?" Morgan said with a bit of worry as he opened the door to the wooden shack. "I mean, we're assuming he's even alive right now. And what are we basing that off of? The purchase of crackers at a grocery store. God, I hate this!"

"I know Morgan, but would you rather just give up?"

"No. That's not what I'm saying. I just….I just don't know if I can handle not finding him or worse yet, finding him dead. Why's it always gotta be Reid? For once I wish an unsub would attack me instead," Morgan confessed.

"Yeah, and if you were the one missing the rest of us would still be in the same boat as we are now," Hotch responded as he wandered around the one room building looking for signs of recent life.

"I know, but at least for once Reid would be safe. The kid's been through too much in his life time to have to deal with another kidnapping now too."

"I agree Morgan. To be honest, I'm afraid of the Reid we may find. What, after losing his girlfriend this past year and all the other horrors he's experienced on this job, I'll be surprised if he is mentally all there when we find him," Hotch explained, sharing his own fears.

"I don't know if I can handle finding a broken Reid," Morgan said with some sorrow etched in his voice at the prospect.

"I don't think I can either," Hotch agreed. "Let's get out of here. It's pretty clear that no one has been here for quite a while."

As they exited the hut Morgan went to say something else. His sentence wasn't even started when a loud explosive sound ripped through the bayou. The two men raced back toward their waiting boat and immediately took the radio to find out what happened. They could hear JJ's shrill voice coming over the frequency asking if everyone was okay.

"This is Hotchner. Morgan and I are fine. How about you two?"

"Blake and I are good. We were pulling up to another location when the sound occurred. Have you heard from Rossi?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I can see the smoke cloud from my boat. It's northeast of my location and the sheriff wants to go check it out," Rossi explained in the cool manner only he could have in an intense situation.

"We can see the cloud too. We'll meet you there in case you need help. Blake and JJ keep searching your part of the map and we'll keep you updated," Hotch ordered.

"Got it! Be safe," she said as she signed off.

Hotch looked at the tour guide and said, "Take us to that cloud of smoke."

* * *

John was pissed that he was getting off to such a late start today. It was his own damn fault for getting distracted by the boy. He never figured that he would swing that way, but after all the fun he had last night and this morning he marveled at a whole world he was missing out on. It was amazing how good it felt and he couldn't wait to get back home and enjoy some more time with the kid.

One of the things he like the most about the boy was the expressions on his face all throughout the assault. Of course, John didn't think of it as an assault, but as an added bonus to keeping a slave at his house. Anyways, the boy liked it. As much as the young man protested his body responded to everything that was done to it. A body wouldn't do that if it didn't like what was happening to it.

John was in the middle of bringing in one of his catches when he was rocked to the bottom of the boat. A loud explosion encompassed his ears and sent shivers through his body. He had never heard anything that loud in his lifetime. It sounded like a hundred bombs going off all at once. He looked around through the trees trying to get a look at the sky. There had to be a smoke cloud signaling were the explosion came from.

A sinking feeling came over his stomach when he finally spotted the billowing cloud of smoke. It was off in the direction of his house. John was familiar enough with this swamp to know that there weren't any other people living in that direction except for him and the boy. Dropping the gator into the water John immediately turned on the boat and steered off toward home. That boy was going to pay!

* * *

Initially, Reid didn't know what he was going to do with the matches. He just stood there marveling at how amazing the mind was even when it was working only at half its capabilities. Looking around the island he thought about making a bonfire, but then quickly discarded the idea. No one would come looking because of a small fire. People burned their trash all the time; a tiny smoke cloud would ring no alarms.

He was about to give up on the whole idea of starting a fire to signal help when his eyes fell on the propane tank that John used to heat his water and run his refrigerator. Propane was highly flammable. If he could just rig a way for the tank to explode without killing himself he may be able to get off of this island.

That's when he realized that John had left him a way all along. Reid shambled over to the wood pile and started collecting pieces to pile around the tank. He ignored all the pain in his body and pushed all thoughts of what he lived through last night from his mind. He couldn't be distracted by such things right now. He needed to focus on one thing at a time, and right now it was getting himself rescued.

By the time Reid had piled up enough wood the sun was officially up in the sky, which made Reid happy. The smoke cloud emitted by the explosion he was planning would be easily seen for miles. The genius went into the shed and pulled out the gas can used to refill the lawn mower. He spread the flammable liquid around the pile and stood back to look at his creation. He was going home today!

He took out his matches and threw them on the pile. At first he was disappointed by the flames that erupted. He was worried that the fire wouldn't get hot enough to agitate the chemical inside the tank but then the flame finally caught. He turned his back and started to make his way to the other end of the island. He knew he needed to get as far from the explosion as possible, but the chain staked deep in the ground prevented him from getting to where he safely needed to be.

He was halfway to the edge of the island when the explosion tore through the air flinging the fragile body into the air.

* * *

Reid woke up soaking wet on the shore of the island. The explosion must have flung him into the shallow water. The liquid must have protected him from the mighty blast but his back felt singed. Coughing a bit from the rough awakening Reid flipped over and observed the house.

What was once a semi decent dwelling was now a burnt out shell. The fire was still raging inside sending a ballooning cloud of dark smoldering ashes into the sky. Mission accomplished was all Reid could think as he set about pulling himself up from the ground.

His body ached from the agitation of the action. His injuries were making their displeasure known by sending waves of agony rolling through his frame. He had been so focused earlier on escaping that he didn't realize how much he was upsetting his wounds. It took all the strength he had to walk over to the dock and collapse on top of it.

He was glad the dock had survived the explosion because he now had a secure place to sit and await his fate. He huddled up against one of the wooden pylons pulling his body into a small ball trying to ignore the screaming pain that was radiating from his backside. Instinctively, he rocked back and forth trying to banish the throbbing from his mind. Unfortunately, it didn't work well and the feelings of pain and how he incurred his injuries came rushing back into his awareness. He couldn't stop the onslaught of memories from attacking his brain making him feel humiliated all over again.

Reid was sitting on that dock wallowing in his misery for quite a while. He started getting confused when a buzzing sound was infiltrating his brain. He thought maybe it was an aftereffect of the explosion but realized it couldn't be. He lifted his head and peered through his hooded eyes. Off in the distance he saw an airboat approaching. He couldn't make out who was on the boat because he lost his contact some time ago. The fact that he knew it was a boat was due to the noise that was bouncing through the narrow channel.

Unsure of how to prepare himself for whoever was coming Reid chose to stay curled up in his defensive position hoping against hope that it wasn't John's boat coming down the way.


	11. Friendly Faces

**This is a revision of the chapter I posted earlier this week. I had a few mistakes that were inexcusable that I needed to fix. Thanks Kasey64 for helping me out! Nothing major has changed though so you don't have to reread this chapter if you don't want to.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill...I'm poor and don't have enough money to own the show.**

**Thanks for all the well wishes and comments! You guys rock!**

**I gotta tell you guys that I lied...this is not the last chapter of this story. I have one more that needs some finishing touches before I can publish it. I tried to fit it all into this one, but I was getting upwards of 7,000 words so I decided to split them. So good news!**

**Please forgive my writing mistakes! I'm not perfect.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Reid could hear the airboat getting closer and closer to the dock. The sound of the fan was soon overwhelming his ears and blocking out the crackling fire coming from the smoldering house. If at all possible he curled his body into a tighter ball and waited for the inevitable.

Reid covered his ears with his palms trying to block out the roaring sound and efficiently silencing any voices that may be coming off from the boat. He could feel the vibrations of the boat getting closer and anticipated that at any moment the driver would have to turn off the engine to coast into the dock. The agent wanted to force his head up to see whomever was on the boat, but the fear of finding John glaring at him kept it buried in his trembling legs.

He heard the boat's fan cut off and knew that he was moments away from salvation or death. Reid constricted his body position to its maximum point and held his breath as he felt the boat bump into the quay.

A muffled sound reached his ears through his palms. The genius was too overcome with fear to even try to register what the sound meant. In fact, he was more focused on the heavy footsteps thumping across the dock to worry about a meaningless noise. Based upon the tremors Reid knew that whoever was approaching him was quite large and muscular. Their footsteps were calm and cautious, almost like they were trying to observe the huddled form before them.

Reid was positive that John was approaching him based on the tauntingly slow steps. The man was prolonging his captive's anticipation of what was to come as another form of mental torture.

The hand that landed on his shoulder nearly made him jump out of his skin. He hadn't expected a gentle touch to be John's first contact with him after blowing up his house. What he thought was going to happen was a kick in the ribs and another trip into the swampy water of the bayou. But no…he felt gentle fingers shake his shoulder with concern instead.

"Reid! Reid, it's me Morgan! Look at me! Are you alright?"

The words that were once muffled became clear when Reid finally removed his hands from his ears. He registered the familiar voice and decided to take a look to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Slowly he turned his head to the left and allowed his eyes to peak out from their hiding spot.

Relief flooded through his body when he saw his best friend in the whole world crouching down next to his huddled form. "Morgan?" he whispered.

"Yeah, it's me kid. We're here. We've finally found you," Morgan said with a big smile on his face.

"How?" Reid asked, incredulous that his plan may have actually worked.

"The smoke cloud. We followed it here," Morgan explained quickly starting to get worried about how weak his friend sounded. "Are you okay?"

Reid ignored the question and muttered, "It worked…it actually worked."

"Reid! Reid! Focus kid. We need to get you out of here. Can you stand?" the worried agent asked as his boss finally climbed on the dock after calling in to the other boats.

"Can't leave," Reid responded quietly with something close to shame lacing his voice.

"Why?" Hotch asked troubled over his agent's reluctance to get away from the place he was being held against his will.

"Because of this," Reid answered finally unwinding himself from his scrunched up position and shaking the bulky chain that was attached to his metal collar.

A growl escaped Morgan's lips when he saw the manacles and chains that were attached to his friend. He scooted closer to Reid and started inspected his bindings. Morgan could tell that the kid was humiliated at being found in such a state by his coworkers so he tried to do the examination as quick as possible. Unfortunately, the chains were sturdy, strong, and locked tight. Morgan looked at the collar last and he must have lingered there too long, for Reid tried to pull away from his friends prying hands.

"It's okay, I'm done," Morgan said gently to the jumpy agent. He looked up at his superior who was hovering over the two agents and said, "We need a key. They are way too complicated to pick in a reasonable amount of time."

"Reid, do you know where the key is?" Hotch asked knowing that the answer wouldn't be a good one.

"John has them."

"Where's John?"

"John leaves every morning around five to do his job. He won't be back until dusk. Please, I don't want to be here when he gets home," Reid choked out looking up at Hotch with pleading eyes.

"You'll be long gone before he ever arrives," Hotch assured the boy. They wouldn't let that man near Reid again. The only disadvantage to finding Reid alone was that they couldn't put the man behind bars where he belonged. They were going to have to work with the state and local police to come up with some sort of search plan to find Mr. Brookins. "Morgan, go see if there are any bolt cutters on the boat. Oh, and grab the first aid kit too."

The agent didn't like being told to leave his newly found friend but did as he was instructed. Once they were alone Hotch took the opportunity to inspect his injured agent more closely.

"Reid, where are you hurt?" he asked as he reached his hand out to the young agent.

The genius shrunk away from the hand and stuttered out, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Reid, I can tell that you're not fine just by looking at you. You're trembling. I bet if I touched your forehead it would be burning up. What else is wrong and don't tell me you're fine again?" Hotch said scolding the boy for his stubbornness.

"My leg. I was bitten by an alligator two days ago. I think it's infected," Reid said purposefully avoiding some of his more embarrassing injuries.

"I can tell that there's more," Hotch said with a no nonsense voice.

Reid really didn't want to tell him about how John etched the word "slave" into his abdomen or beat him with a belt, so he settled on something less demeaning.

"He broke four of my fingers," Reid revealed holding up his hands.

Hotch gasped at the sight of the mangled digits on both of Reid's hands. All of the digits in question were bruised and swollen, but the two index fingers looked like they were twisted about at unnatural angles. "Why?"

"I did something that he told me not to do," was all Reid would say as an explanation.

Morgan chose that moment to come back to his friends. He tossed the medical kit to Hotch and said, "There aren't any bolt cutters on the boat. Not that I expected there to be anyways since they're usually tour boats. Reid, did this guy keep tools anywhere?"

"Yeah, there is a tool shed around back, but I don't know if it survived the blast."

"I'll go take a look," Hotch offered, hoping that leaving the two best friends alone would allow Reid to open up more about his injuries. "Morgan, take care of his leg and fingers while I'm gone."

"Huh? Reid…man…what's up with your fingers?" Morgan asked missing out on the earlier explanation.

Reid held up his hands and showed off his wounds. "Sometimes I would forget an instruction that John would give me so he broke my fingers as punishment," he explained glossing over the details again.

"Wow, I didn't think you could forget anything," Morgan said unconvinced that his friend would be so stupid as to forget John's instructions four times.

"Well, you would be surprised at how much your mind blocks out when you're in a situation like I was. There were too many other things distracting my thoughts so his directions weren't always at the forefront," Reid answered afraid that he was revealing too much information.

"So what did you do?" Morgan asked while taping the fingers on Reid's left hand together.

"Um…I…ouch!" he exclaimed hoping to divert the other agent's attention.

"Oh, sorry man. I didn't mean to hurt you," he apologized.

"It's okay."

"Alright, now which leg is hurt?" Morgan said after finishing the fingers and successfully sidetracked from his previous question.

"My right one," he said keeping his answers simple while he pulled his pant leg up to his knee exposing his whole right shin.

There was a shabby bandage wrapped around the limb from the last time that Reid was able to treat it. Morgan slowly unwound the gauze and shuddered when he saw the angry bite wounds. They were definitely infected. There was puss oozing out of a few of the puncture marks and they were all red and swollen around the edges.

"Damn kid, how did you manage that? It looks like you got bit by something," Morgan said marveling at the injury.

"Um...an alligator bit me two days ago. I tried to clean it, but I didn't have much to work with," Reid said trying to hide the pain in his voice when Morgan started to apply an antibacterial cream.

"You've sure been through the ringer in four days, haven't ya?" Morgan asked trying to lighten the mood. He knew his best friend was hurting, but he didn't want his buddy to dwell on it.

"You could say that," Reid said quietly.

The two fell into silence after Morgan finished bandaging the alligator bite. Hotch came back moments later empty handed.

"The shed was destroyed in the blast. There were tools strewn about everywhere but nothing that could help us. I did manage to find where the chain is secured and I think you and I could dig out the stake, Morgan. Reid, do you want to come with us or are you good here?" Hotch asked Reid, hesitant to let him out of his sight so soon after finding him.

Reid, not wanting to move any more than necessary said, "I'll stay here. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Reid watched their retreating figures as he leaned his aching back against the pylon once again. He started to think about the best way to go about keeping the rest of his injuries hidden from the team. They were just too reprehensible to discuss with his family. How do you tell someone that you were raped? How do you explain that you just laid there and let it happened? How do you admit that your body responded even when your mind was against it? You don't. He knew that if they ever found out the team would never be able to look at him the same way again. They would probably find him dirty and disgusting because that's how he saw himself. And he saw how everyone reacted to Morgan after they found out about his ordeal as a child; they treated him like glass for months. He refused to stand by and let them look at him with pity and sympathy in their eyes day in and day out. He didn't want them to have to use kid gloves whenever they interacted with him. So, Reid swore right then and there that his friends and family would never find out about the horrors he endured at the hands of John Brookins.

In order to make sure they were kept in the dark Reid decided that he couldn't let any of them ride with him in the ambulance that Hotch was sure to have waiting for him when they got back to civilization. That way no one would witness the lash marks on his back from his beating or the burn on his stomach. In addition to that, he was not going to allow the hospital to check for any type of abuse. There was no way he was going to let his rape be recorded into his medical records. Finally, he was going to demand that the doctors clear with him any information that they want to disclose to the team. Since he knew that none of his injuries would require for him to be sedated he was pretty positive that his plan would work. He just needed to fight the fever a bit longer and not act too much out of it when dealing with the medical professionals.

Ten minutes later Morgan and Hotch came back from their mission covered in dirt. Hotch was gathering up the long length of chain as he walked. The sight made Reid shudder because it reminded him of a dog owner winding up a leash. Again mortification overcame the genius at his predicament and he did his best to not let it show on his face.

"We finally got it loose," Morgan said showing Reid his dirt encrusted hands. "We had to dig it out with our bare hands. Man, was that sucker deep. You wouldn't have had a chance on your own. Hotch and I could barely get it out working together."

Unfortunately, Morgan's statement had Reid blushing red at the obvious jab at his muscle strength.

Hotch, noticing his agent's embarrassment said, "Yeah. Let's get in the boat and get out of here."

"We're leaving already? Don't you want to process the scene?" Reid asked with surprise.

"You're more important right now. We need to get you to the hospital and have those injuries properly taken care of. Anyways, there's a team of state police officers coming out to process everything. Since this place isn't technically in the borders of any city or town they're going to assist us in sorting everything out. The rest of the team is going to meet us back at the police dock," Hotch explained.

Reid just nodded his head to indicate that he was processing the information. Moments later he felt a hand grip his bicep to help him up. Wincing in pain, the feverish boy struggled sluggishly to his feet. The genius's high temperature was really taking a toll on his coordination and when Morgan's hand released him Reid felt his body swaying.

"Steady there pretty boy. Let me help you get into the boat," Morgan said grabbing his friend's arm again. "Hey man, what happened to your back?"

Reid was taken by surprise by that question. He had forgotten about the burning pain coming off of his posterior. "What?"

"Your shirt is shredded and you have marks all over the place," Morgan explained.

"Yeah, well…the explosion kinda flung me into the water. When I woke up I noticed that my back felt a bit singed but I didn't think anything of it," Reid said hoping he would drop the subject.

"Wow, add another injury to the list for you to get check out," Morgan responded letting the topic go.

Reid grunted in agreement and focused his attention on getting into the boat. It took a few minutes but the injured agent finally made it down the dock ladder and into the waiting vessel. Instead of sitting down in the bucket seats that were positioned in front of the massive fan Reid optioned to curl himself into a ball on the floor of the boat. Hotch didn't question his choice and gently laid the coil of chain next to him. Reid assumed the same position that he was found in and put his head down for the journey back.

Deep in the shadows of the cypress trees was another airboat lying in wait. The passenger on the boat was observing the actions of the officers milling around his property. He had been in that position for hours, seething as the remains of his former home was dissected by the authorities.

He knew the moment the explosion ripped through the swamp that the boy had something to do with it. He had immediately set course for his house and decided on a plan of action for dealing with his defiant but irresistible slave.

He had just completed the final turn before he would come upon his private channel when he noticed another boat 200 yards ahead of him. Knowing that whoever was in that boat meant bad news for him he quickly turned his boat around and went down a parallel channel. Luckily, the other boat was too far ahead to even notice his vessel and the cypress trees provided excellent cover to hide him from their view when he coasted into his position.

From his position he was able to watch the large black agent scale the ladder up to the dock. The man, Agent Something-or-other, gently touched the boy and roused him out of his stupor. Soon another man he had never seen before joined the mix and it looked like they were going to release the boy from his fetters. John growled when the men successfully released the chain from the ground and coaxed his slave from up off the dock. Fury consumed him when he realized that the one storyteller that he enjoyed the most was being stolen from his grasp.

The need to turn his boat on and speed away to take back what was his was overwhelming. He had never felt a desire so strong before now. Unfortunately, John knew that tailing the boat wasn't an option because there were sure to be more authorities riding around in this part of the swamp due to the boy being found. The best option for the moment was to sit still, wait for the state police to disperse when the sun went down, and then go and find shelter for the night.

John swore right there and then that while he may not be able to get back his property now he would in the near future. And when he finally had the boy back in his clutches he would make sure that the kid could never leave him again.


	12. See You Later Alligator

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

**So friends, the Raconteur has come to an end. I hoped you enjoyed this story and will stick around for the next one too!**

**Thanks for reviewing and adding my story! I love reading your thoughts and ideas.**

**Please forgive my mistakes!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The second the boat arrived at the police dock Reid was swarmed with people trying to help him. There were way too many hands for him to handle and all of them were trying to do something different. One set of hands had grabbed onto the length of chain, another was inspecting the manacles around his hands, some were trying to help him stand up, and a large man was reaching for his leg.

Unable to contain his panic Reid yelled out, "No, don't touch me! Leave me alone!"

Everyone froze and stared at the young man. They hadn't been prepared for this type of a reaction. It seemed as if the agent was terrified of human contact. Reid was pushing himself back against the side of the boat in a desperate attempt to get away from all the hands. It took Hotch stepping in and telling everyone to back off for the workers to realize that their presence was crushing the boy.

"Back up! Give him some air," Hotch directed to the officers and EMTs that were encircling the genius. "Here, hand me the bolt cutters."

The officer that was wielding the cutters handed over the tool and stepped back. Hotch crouched down next to Reid and said, "Reid, I'm going to cut those chains off of you now. Stay still so I don't hurt you. Okay?"

Reid nodded his head in recognition.

It took a few tries on Hotch's part to cut through the collar. Regrettably, he ended up nicking Reid's neck a little on the final cut. But moments later it swung open and released Reid's neck from its suffocating grasp.

Immediately the boy's hands went to his neck to massage the portion that had been captured in the metallic contraption. Someone let out a small gasp at the sight of the bruising and red marks that were left behind. There was even a deep loop that traveled the full circumference of his neck, a leftover from when he was kidnapped by the snare days ago.

"Reid, give me your hands," Hotch instructed.

Having gotten used to using the bolt cutters Hotch was able to make short work of the manacles. Those too fell away and revealed more irritated and scabbed skin. The genius was quick to stretch out his hands as far as they would reach relishing in the freedom he hadn't known in days.

"Let's get you up and to the ambulance," Hotch said after he handed the tool back to the waiting officer.

With Morgan's help Hotch was able to get Reid up the ladder and onto the dock. Both men noticed how the genius seemed very nervous when accepting their help but chalked it up to his usual quirk against human contact.

Once he was on the dock Reid was able to walk on his own to the waiting ambulance regardless of the disorientation he was experience due to his fever. Once he got there he was sat on a gurney and was approached by an EMT.

Reid shrank back from the outreaching hands again but scolded himself moments later. He had to act natural and let these people take care of him or else the team would start getting suspicious. It took all the self-control he had to keep his face neutral as the male EMT started inspecting his wounds.

"I'm going to have you lay down now and we're going to put you in the back of the bus," the man explained.

Reid had a momentary panic attack when they started pulling the straps across his body to keep him in place during transport. Briefly he transported back to John's filthy bed and remembered how he had struggled to get up. His hand went to the straps to try to pull them off but he upset his fingers and let out a whimper in pain.

"Don't worry. Those are there to keep you from fall off the gurney. You're going to be fine," the EMT said when he noticed his patient's panicked breathing.

The voice pulled Reid out of his flashback. Realizing that he wasn't in any danger he let his hands fall lifelessly to his sides and waited for the vehicle to start moving.

Out of nowhere he heard Morgan saying, "I'm riding along."

"No," Reid croaked out quickly.

"What? Reid…man…I'm not leaving you alone again. Someone's got to keep you out of trouble," Morgan said trying to make light of the situation.

"No," Reid repeated. "I'll be fine. I'll see you at the hospital."

"Are you sure? I don't like this. You need a friendly face by your side. If not me at least let someone else ride along with you," Morgan prodded as he was a little bit hurt that his best friend was pushing him away.

"No! I don't need a babysitter," Reid said through clenched teeth.

Morgan, temporarily stunned by the genius's reaction stood there looking into the ambulance in a stupor.

"Um…it's going to be crowded in here anyways with us two working on him. You should probably just meet us at the hospital," the EMT said gesturing to his coworker. Without giving Morgan a chance to respond the second EMT hopped into the bed of the truck and closed the doors with a resounding crash. Morgan was left standing there with an open mouth wondering why his friend was so desperate to go it alone.

* * *

Once the doors shut on the EMT Reid allowed the workers to tend to him. He really didn't like them touching him though and had to focus on his breathing to prevent another panic attack. He had to get through this without raising any alarms. He also needed to stay competent enough to make sure they didn't try to give him any narcotics, which didn't go over well with the two aides.

"You sure? It looks like you're in a lot of pain?" the man asked.

"I'll be fine. No narcotics," Reid said as he winced in obvious pain, a reaction of his injuries being jostled when the ambulance hit a pothole in the road.

"Okay, I'll have to make a note of that in your file," he said.

"Go ahead," Reid said snippily.

The ride to the hospital took forty minutes. In that time the attendants were able to splint his fingers and wrap them tightly to prevent any movement. They flushed out his alligator bite and applied new gauze to the wound saying that the doctors would have to look at it more closely when he got to the ER. The next thing they did was treat his neck and wrist abrasions. Finally, they rolled Reid onto his side and analyzed his back.

"It looks like burns on top of some welts and lesions," the male EMT stated.

"We need to treat the burns first and then clean out the abrasions," the female responded.

"Hey, um…kid," the man called out to Reid.

"It's Dr. Reid," he interrupted.

"Oh, Dr. Reid…sorry. How did you get these welts on your back?" the man questioned.

"It…those marks…um…can't I just wait and discuss that with the doctor?" Reid asked.

"Uh…yeah. I just wanted to make sure that whatever did it wasn't putting you at risk for infection. We'll just patch them up anyways and you can talk to your doctor about what caused them," the man said.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" the woman asked after they treated all the welts and burns on Reid's back.

"Um…yeah. On my stomach," Reid said nervously. He really didn't want anyone to see the hideous brand that was etched into his skin, but he knew it needed to be treated before it too caused an infection if it hadn't already.

"Okay, we're going to have you lay on your back again so we can get a look at it," the female instructed when the vehicle came to a sudden halt.

"Looks like we're here," the man said. "We'll tell the ER doctors about your stomach and they'll take care of it."

Reid didn't even respond as he felt the gurney move taking him along with it.

* * *

His time in the ER took forever. There were x-rays ordered, burn treatments to undergo, hard casts put on his index fingers because the breaks in them were too sever to leave splinted, and antibiotic treatments administered to combat the infection he was already fighting. None of his injuries required him being put under, and for that Reid was thankful.

Reid was also happy because the whole time he was being treated he was able to keep his rape a secret. Every grimace and gasp that accidentally slipped out was easily blamed on his other injuries and as long as he didn't move around too much the pain in his backside was tolerable. By the end of his examination and caretaking Reid was patting himself on the back for he successfully fooled the medical professionals into believing that there was nothing else wrong with him. In addition he was silently thanking God for the opportunity he had earlier that morning to wash off the evidence that may have alerted the doctors to his assault and destroyed his whole cover-up.

The one problem he had was keeping his paranoia and panic in check whenever a strange man entered his room. It was probably one of the most difficult things he had ever had to deal with. Of course, Reid had dealt with rape victims before, but he finally understood what they went through after the fact. He knew that none of the men that worked on him were there to hurt him, but every time they touched him would flashback to his night of terror with John. His mind really struggled to keep his fear inside. It took everything he had to stop his body from yelling out or fighting against their ministrations but he did it.

They finally transferred him up to his own room after hours of being poked and prodded. Luckily the fever never got up too high to make him delusional or confused so he was lucid enough to make his wishes known to his doctor when he was settled into his room.

"You have friends out in the waiting room wanting to come in and see you," Dr. Etchinson said as he walked in the room to see how his patient was doing.

"You didn't speak to them yet did you?"

"No, I was just on my way to talk to them and let them know they could come back and visit with you," the doctor responded.

"Good. I wanted to make sure that you only give them status updates on my burns, fingers, and alligator bite. Everything else is to remain between you, the nurses, me and my medical files. I do not want them to know about my welts or the bran….burn on my stomach," Reid demanded.

"Um…okay. I can do that. But if they ask me how you are doing I am going to answer honestly. I am going to give them a realistic recovery time based on all your injuries," the doctor countered.

"That's fine. Just don't go into detail. I'll tell them about the rest of it when I'm ready," the genius responded knowing good and well that he was never going to disclose that information to any of them.

"Alright. Oh…are you sure you don't want anything for the pain. I know that your burn must be excruciating and those broken fingers can't be a walk in the park," Doctor Etchinson asked.

"No…I'll be fine," Reid said with determination. In reality every part of his body felt like it was on fire, especially his backside. John was not gentle last night and Reid could still feel the fiery pain coming from that area.

"Okay. I'll send them in soon," the doctor said as he walked away.

Reid breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he pulled off his cover-up.

* * *

"Dr. Spencer Reid," a man in a white medical coat called out into the waiting room.

All of the agents stood up and approached the man. They had been waiting for hours with no update and every time they asked the nurses just brushed them off.

"We're here for Dr. Reid," Hotch answered for them all. "How is he doing?"

"I'm Dr. Etchinson and I was in charge of Dr. Reid's care. First of all, I can tell that you aren't family, but I have permission from your friend to inform you of his injuries," the doctor started. "Dr. Reid is suffering from some burns on his back due to the explosion. They aren't severe enough to scar and just need to be treated daily with some burn cream. His fingers were brutally mangled and because of that each needed to be casted. The broken digits on his left hand were all casted together, and his right finger is casted singularly. Finally, he has a fever as a result of his alligator bite. It is very common for alligators to transfer bacteria from their teeth into their victim. This is what happened in Dr. Reid's case, especially since he didn't get the wound treated right after it occurred. We have administered antibiotics and we should see their results within the next two days."

"Is there anything else?" Morgan asked.

"Well…," the doctor really wanted to discuss the rest of the injuries but knew it would violate his client's wishes, but he could discuss his mental state without fear of infringement. "I think Dr. Reid should think about seeing a therapist after he gets released from the hospital. He seems to be hiding away his true feelings and I think he is going to have a hard time coming to terms with what happened to him out there. It would be in your best interest to get him to talk to someone about his experiences."

The team nodded in agreement knowing that their favorite genius would rather die than share all his secrets with a stranger.

"We'll make sure he does," Rossi said knowing it was going to be a fight.

"Good. He is right down the hall from here, room 408. He needs his rest so please go easy on him. The nurses will inform you of the visiting hours. Please don't hesitate to call me to ask any questions," Dr. Etchinson said as he left the profilers.

* * *

The team hovered around their battered friend for the rest of the day. It was when the windows finally signaled that night had arrived that they decided to give Reid a break. After a bit of arguing between Morgan and JJ it was finally decided that the muscular man was going to keep the kid company over night.

Reid was put out at the prospect of having a babysitter there with him all night but he tried not to show it. Deep down he was just worried about having nightmares in front of his fellow agent and what he might say during the throes of one.

"You really don't have to stay Morgan," Reid said after the team had left.

"No man. You're not going to pull that on me again. I let you ride off without me in the ambulance against my will. I'm not leaving you in the hospital all by yourself after everything you went through," Morgan said shutting his friend down instantaneously.

"I'll be fine," Reid countered using his well-known excuse that meant he would be anything but fine.

"Look, I'm staying. Deal with it kid," Morgan responded with a finality.

With a huff Reid hugged his arms around his body and laid back into the bed.

"Good. I see your finally getting some sense in you," Morgan said after seeing his friend concede defeat.

The two sat quietly watching a horrible sitcom on T.V. Reid, after having enough of the canned laughter for a night shut off the devise after a particularly horrible attempt at a joke.

"I think I'll try to get some sleep," Reid explained when silence enveloped the room.

"No problem. Get all the rest you can. But Reid, before you do I just want you to know that I'm here whenever you need to talk. I mean it. If you wake up at three in the morning and need to get something out, wake me up," Morgan encouraged.

Reid gave Morgan a half smile in thanks and closed his eyes feeling safe in the darkness for the first time in days.

* * *

Morgan must have been a psychic because right around 3 a.m. Reid jolted out of a nightmare and was gasping for breath.

He looked around the room ready to defend himself if necessary and realized that he was in his hospital room and Morgan was across from him stretched out over two chairs. The snoring of his best friend gave his mind something to grab onto and helped him calm down.

Morgan must have sensed his friend's distress and peeled his eyes open moments later.

"Hey man, you alright?"

"Yeah…it was just a…" Reid trailed off not wanting to share.

"A nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"You want to talk about it? Get it off your chest?" Morgan asked hoping that his friend would finally open up about what happened. The whole time the team was there no one mentioned Reid's ordeal not wanting to upset the kid, but Morgan knew his friend needed to pour out his encounter to someone.

"Um…no. It's alright," Reid said licking his lips and reaching for a glass of water.

"Well, do you want to hear about how we found you?" Morgan asked hoping his story act as a doorway to get his friend to start talking.

"Sure," Reid whispered because he was kind of interested in finding out what they were up to the whole time he was stranded on that island.

Morgan relived the last four days since Spencer was taken. He discussed the panic they all felt when they realized their colleague was missing and how they searched the bayou nonstop for any trace of him.

"It wasn't until yesterday that JJ stumbled upon a lead. She was at the same grocery store counter that you two went to the first night we were here. She saw a man buy two types of crackers and recognized him as the same man that listened to your story. He was buying tons of medical supplies too and started acting squirrely after he made eye contact with her. Long story short, we found out the man she recognized was John Brookins, the same man that made the map of the bayou for us to search. We thought it was too much of a coincidence that he made the map that we were using to look for you. So this morning we took to the boats and set out searching the places he neglected to mark. Luckily you lit that fire and your genius explosion brought us to you. We would have found you eventually by going from the map though…you just helped to speed the rescue along. I'm so proud of you for essentially rescuing yourself pretty boy," Morgan explained hoping his friend would now tell him something about his time with John.

"Did you just say that you guys knew how to find my yesterday?" Reid asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

Morgan furrowed his brow at the question, not liking where it was leading. "Well yeah. By the time we figured out what was going on with John it was too late to go out on the boats again. The search parties had been running all day and they were too tired to continue in the dark."

"You guys could have found me last night?! You gave up on me till the morning!?"

"Reid…man…I just said that we wouldn't have been able to search for you without the light," Morgan said realizing just how upset Reid was getting.

"No! You could have stopped it…you could have saved me earlier! I can't believe you all just gave up! I would have never done that if it was one of you. I would have demanded they call in new people to continue the search. I…I…I don't even know what to say to you. Get out of my room! Leave me alone just like you did last night," Reid screeched at his best friend.

"Come on! We searched for you day and night Reid. We didn't give up on you. We just couldn't get out there last night. We all wanted too, but we were ordered to get some sleep," Morgan said trying to placate his friend.

"Sleep? Sleep! You were sleeping while I was living in hell! Get out! Don't come back. I don't want to see any of you. Leave me alone! I'll find my own way back to Virginia," Reid yelled with tears coming out of his eyes.

"We're not going to do that man. Look, listen to me. None of us wanted to stop looking for you for a moment, but we just couldn't commandeer a boat and go out on our own. There was no way we could get out there last night. I swear!" Morgan stated as he reached his hand to Reid's face to wipe away his tears.

Reid slapped Morgan's hand away and said ferociously, "I said get out!" He then reached over and buzzed the call button to summon the nurse.

Moments later a burly young man appeared in the doorway and asked, "Is there anything you need?"

"No," Morgan answered but was quickly negated by his friend.

"Yes! Can you please get him out of my room. He's disturbing my sleep and refuses to get out."

"Sir. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the nurse said adhering to his patient's wishes.

"I'm not going anywhere. Reid, you need to start talking. I can tell you're bottling things up inside. You need to let them out," Morgan said to him trying to appeal to his senses.

Reid turned his back to Morgan as a sign that he was through listening to the man's arguments. "Get out!"

"Sir, I will call security if you don't leave now. You are upsetting my patient," the nurse called to the angry agent.

"Fine. I'm leaving Reid. But I'll be back in the morning with the others and we're going to talk," Morgan declared as he made his way to the door. He looked back to see if there was any response from his friend, but saw no indication that he was listening.

Reid heard the door close and clenched his eyes shut in anger. How could his friends wait like that? They could have prevented some if not all of the assault from occurring but instead they went to sleep. The realization that they were all snoozing in their beds while he was undergoing the worst night of his life made him boil with rage. Perhaps it was time to cut ties with them all. He had grown to close to them over the past few years, and he had even allowed himself to trust them. But like always his trust was abused and stomped into the ground.

What made him even angrier was that he felt so betrayed and there was no way he would ever be able to tell his friends why. He realized then that keeping this all inside was going to be harder than he thought. Unfortunately, bottling up the pain and humiliation was a better alternative than revealing it to the others. He knew he could do this. He had experience with keeping dark secrets locked in the inner recesses of his brain; this time wouldn't be any different. He just needed to ride out this storm and keep his so-called friends at a distance.

* * *

Reid eventually fell back into a deep sleep. He had flipped around on the bed to face the door after Morgan left. John stood there in the doorway admiring the boy as he lay with his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He loved how the kid looked so young and vulnerable in the hospital bed all curled up.

John crept into the room not wanting to wake the boy. He marveled at how easy it was to get access to a patient's room this late at night. One would think the staff would be on alert and walking around to check on their patients, but they were just gathered at the nurses' station gossiping.

The large man walked over to his victim and gazed at his slumbering form. He could tell the boy was troubled because his jaw was clenched even in his sleep. He saw how both of his hands had casts to help his fingers heal. The rest of the injuries were covered up by the hospital gown and blanket. John was tempted to lift the boy's gown to get a look at the brand but controlled his urges. He had come here for one reason only, to leave the boy a gift.

He took the package and wedged it between the boy's back and the mattress. This way, when the boy flipped over to lie on his back the gift would poke him. There was no way it would go unnoticed.

The man took one last look at the object of his desire and backed out of the room. Regrettably, He wasn't ready to take back what was his. There were too many things he needed to do before they could play again. Anyways, he wanted the boy to heal a bit before the next round of fun.

As he plodded down the stairwell he wondered at how he became obsessed with the young man. This whole thing really did start out with him just needing some company and entertainment to get through the long lonely nights. Of course, when he took the girls the sex was an added bonus that he couldn't pass up. But he never fathomed when he took the boy that sex would become a factor. He knew it was the kid's feminine looks that started to attract him. Then, the man started to become enthralled with the expressions that painted the kid's face throughout every situation he endured. Those big brown eyes of his were so expressive and emotional that one couldn't help but become lost in their depths. Once John was irrecoverably enchanted he knew that he must possess the boy body and soul.

Of course, John hadn't forgotten about how the boy damaged his sanctuary. The man planned on making the boy pay once he was back in his grasp. Unfortunately, all of that would have to wait until John had a working plan and a new place to call home. And if he had to follow the young man back to wherever he came from in order to execute his plans, then so be it.

* * *

Reid woke up early the next morning. He was still curled up in a ball on the edge of his bed and needed to stretch his muscles after being scrunched up all night.

He heard a noise in the hallway and shot his jittery glance toward the door to see a hospital worker coming through it with his breakfast tray. Reid lay back in the bed and allowed the worker to wheel the tray over to him. He politely thanked the woman for his food and started to get ready to pick at the unappetizing meal of runny eggs and burnt soggy toast. Eating with two hands partially casted was more difficult than Reid anticipated. He was lucky though that the majority of the broken fingers were on his left hand because he ate with his right. Once he figured out how to handle the fork without using his index finger he took a stab at the food.

It was when he went to put the first taste of food in his mouth that he realized something was digging into his back. He set the fork down and pushed the tray out of the way. He scooted over to his right and looked down at the mattress and there under where his back was once located was a flat brown package.

A chill went through his body at the thought that someone had been in his room while he was out cold. He suddenly regretted sending Morgan away for the night and wished the larger man had been there to protect him. Cursing himself for his stupidity earlier, Reid reached for the package and began to open it.

He found himself staring at a children's book. With trembling fingers he traced over the images on the front cover that showed a large green alligator with rows of sharp teeth. The title of the book was "See You Later Alligator." Reid took a shaky breath and opened the book. There scrawled on the first page was a little message that said, "Don't think that this is over. I'll be seeing you soon."

* * *

**Sequel? Of course! Keep a look out for "Speechless." BTW I promise that in the next story John won't get away unscathed and that Reid will have to learn how to open up and trust his family again.**


End file.
